Sin
by x-evaXOXO
Summary: It's been 2 1/2 years, Sada had promised herself years ago that she'd rescue Sasuke. Will she be able to keep her promise? What happens when Deidara comes back and she's captured by Akatsuki? What happens when she has to finally make a choice? DEIXOCXSASU
1. Prologue

_**Sin, sequal to Beautiful Tragedy**_

* * *

Prologue

I stood in the middle of a field, all sorts of different thoughts running through my head. My heart was aching, as though it was being pulled in two different directions. I knew exactly why it felt that way and it was completely destroying me to feel this pain, as though I would not manage to survive through it. My head was spinning with all the thoughts that were bolting around in my brain at one hundred miles per hour, I was feeling so sick to my stomach at the thought of what I had to do. I had a decision to make, a decision that would damn me straight to hell no matter what choice I made.

I turned my head to the left, my red eyes locking on the group that stood a few yards away from me; Hebi. At the very front of the group stood Uchiha Sasuke, one of the reasons my heart was being pulled in two different directions. I loved him, this boy that had so much tragedy and heartbreak in his past. Even now, I knew it hurt him. Yet, I still loved him more than I'd ever thought was possible. He'd left me, betrayed me, hurt me, but I still loved him. He was so much more than people made him out to be. He understood me, my loneliness and the hurt I was going through. He'd helped me, showed me that I was not alone in the world, for he was going through the exact pain that I was. I wanted to be with him and I never wanted to leave his side, we were in love.

I turned my head to the right, my red eyes locking on the other group that stood a few yards from me; Akatsuki. Standing on the right of the blue haired woman was Iwagakure no Deidara, the other reason my heart was being pulled in two different directions. I loved him as well, this man that had been abused and hurt throughout his childhood. Although he would never admit it, I knew it still hurt him to a point. Yet, I still loved him more than anything in the world. He understood the betrayal I felt, the shunning from my family. He'd helped me without realizing he'd done so in the beginning, showing me that there was someone in the world that would always love me not matter what. I wanted to be with him and I never wanted to have to let him go, we were in love.

I lowered my eyes, staring down at the grassy earth. I played with a few strands of my long blue violet hair, trying to avoid having to make the decision for as long as I could manage. I was in love with two people and the downside of loving two different people, was that I had to make the choice that would decide who I would be with for the rest of my life. Neither of these boys were the wrong decision, they both loved me more than anything and to make matters worse, I knew it. The love that they both held for me, was the same love and an equal amount of it. For me, I loved both of them in the exact same way. I'd known for years that I would have to make this decision and I'd tried to avoid it for as long as possible, rather than deciding who I wanted to be with. Now that it'd come down to that moment, I had no idea what to do.

I looked up from the ground and looked to the right when I heard the leader of the Akatsuki, Pein, say with a cold tone

"Sada, enough is enough. Make a decision so we can be on our way, with or without you."

I felt my heart break at the words when my eyes moved to Deidara's visible bright blue one, I could see the pain he was feeling in his eye. He hated to see me hurting like this, especially when he was one of the reasons behind the hurt I was feeling, but he knew that I had to make a decision. I knew it would destroy him to lose me and I knew in reverse, that it would destroy me to lose him. I loved him, so very much.

I felt my heartbreak increase when I moved my eyes from Deidara, finding Sasuke's onyx ones, I could see the hurt in his eyes. He hated when he was unable to comfort me, he didn't enjoy seeing the lonely look in my eyes, but he knew I had to make a choice. I knew it would devastate him to lose me and I knew in reverse, that it would devastate me to lose him. I loved him, so very much.

I moved my eyes away from Sasuke, looking up towards the sky. As I stared towards the heavens, I thought of what Haku had told me before he died. I'd loved him, he'd been the first boy to steal my heart. Everything he said to me before he died, was flashing through my brain and to my great displeasure, I was questioning him for the first time in my life.

'Haku, why did you have to do this to me? Why did you have to have two guys fall in love with me, why couldn't one have remained my best friend? I thought you said you'd make sure I would find someone, not some people. Why did you have to make it to where I would have to make a choice like this? I thought you loved me enough to keep me from hurting this way…Haku…'

I moved my eyes away from the sky, tears were slipping down my cheeks. I bit down on my lower lip, contemplating on what I should do. It felt like hours had passed but when I finally raised my head from the ground, I'd made my choice.

I turned on my heel, heading towards _him _without looking back at the other.

"No, Sada please. I love you!"

'Gomenasai…'

* * *

**Author's Note: And that's what will happen some time in the near future of this story, Sada's final choice between the two men she loves. Who would you all like her to be with? Your reviews, will move me to make the final decision for Sada's love choice so review please or there will not be a chapter one. I hope you guys enjoyed the little sneak peak, I know you've been waiting a long time for this. Well, there it was and chapter one will shortly follow...if I get reviews. Chow dolls =]**


	2. Chapter One: Two and a half years later

Chapter One

_Desert of Kaze no Kuni; Sada and Onin squad_

'Hmm, I wonder how everyone's been doing since I've been away? Hopefully well, I'll have to give Gaara-kun a big hug as soon as I see him. He probably won't like that too much since he wants to be seen as a strong Kazekage and all, but I know he won't get angry with me. Because I'm...me.'

I giggled quietly to myself in amusement, continuing my journey through the desert towards Sunagakure. The sun was beating down, making the dry and barren desert seem more sweltering hot than it already was. The heat didn't really bother me too much though. I didn't understand why I liked the desert as much as I did, especially since I _loathed _the sun but it was something that I didn't question too often. I knew I was a complicated person, my thoughts were just so contradicting over half the time, so I knew better than to question my own beliefs or I'd wind up confusing myself.

"Taichou...is everything alright?"

I blinked dumbly, looking to my right. I smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head nervously.

"Eh, heh heh. Gomen." I apologized, still smiling a little. "I'm fine, no reason to worry about me."

"Because giggling at random doesn't mean a thing." a female voice teased, I looked to my left.

"I was thinking about some things." I replied, hating how I was going to _more than likely _wind up speaking thoughts I would've rather kept private.

"As in...?"

I rolled my eyes, looking in the direction of the third voice.

"Thing's I'd like to keep to myself." I replied, being honest but extremely vague.

"Don't goad her into telling you something she doesn't want to." the first voice said, I smiled appreciatively. "It's fine Taichou, you don't have to tell us anything you don't want to."

"Stop flirting with her."

"I'm not flirting with her."

"It sure as hell looks like it."

"Nande? Does it bother you?"

"Why I outa-"

"Eh, get over it. She'll never fall for either of you anyway."

"What'd you say Aio?!"

I lowered my head, trying to ignore the arguing going on around me. I should've been used to this, after at least a half a year worth of hearing it on a daily basis, it shouldn't have bothered me as much as at originally did. I honestly thought it had gotten worse though, oh joy. I stared at the ground as we walked, trying to occupy my thoughts with something other than how much this bickering bothered me.

"Okay, I'm so kicking your ass."

"Try it, I'll take you out."

"Yeah right."

"Guys."

All the arguing stopped, I knew all heads turned in my direction when they heard my soft spoken voice. I twiddled my fingers nervously and looked up from the ground, meeting my team's masked faces.

"Can you all stop arguing, please?" I asked quietly, Shigeo nodded.

"Of course Sada-Taichou, I apologize." he said, sounding sincere.

I smiled a bit, moving my gaze to my other two teammates. Aio nodded in agreement, letting me know that she would stop as well. Jurou made a 'tch' sound, jerking his head towards the clouds. I lowered my head to the sandy ground, holding my hands infront of my body self consciously.

"Sure thing Sada." he mumbled, sounding a little annoyed.

I looked up from the ground, smiling brightly at the three of them. Even though they didn't know I was smiling, I was sure that they had some idea about it. They knew I could be a happy and carefree individual at times, I was more happy and sweet than I was lonely and sad. When my sad side came out though, they always tried their hardest to keep my spirits up. I never had thought that I'd have a team that would try so hard to keep me from feeling lonely, maybe that was the reason I was on _this _squad, rather than a different one.

"Alright, let's get back to Suna then." I instructed, the three of them nodded. "Kazekage-sama will be wanting the report from our mission as soon as possible, we need to make it back within the next few hours or so."

"Hai!" the three of them exclaimed, sounding respectful.

I walked passed the three of them, leading our squad. As a Taichou, it was my responsibility to take charge of my squad and look out for them. I didn't really understand why Gaara had given me this title since I was an extremely soft-spoken individual, but my squad listened to me nonetheless. I thought it might've been only because of how sweet I was, and that they didn't want to hurt my feelings by being disrespectful. I was looked at as though as I was extremely fragile, breakable in fact. They probably listened to me for that reason, or maybe it was because the Kazekage was my best friend. I didn't think I'd ever know what my squad _honestly _thought of me, I was too nervous and shy to ask in the first place.

I'd been living in Sunagakure for a good year now, maybe longer. Originally, I'd set out from Konohagakure about two and a half years ago to do some solo training. My goal was to rescue my best friend, Uchiha Sasuke, from Orochimaru's clutches. He'd left the village in search of power, trying to kill his older brother Itachi for murdering his clan. Before Sasuke had left the village though, he'd confessed to me that he was in love with me. Literally, _in love _with me. I hadn't known about my true feelings for him until he'd kissed me that night, and now I was torn to make a decision. You see, I have a boyfriend already, for two years and seven months to be exact. His name is Iwagakure no Deidara, and I am madly in love with this boy. I love him with all my heart, soul, and being. He's like my other half, and I have no idea what my life would be like without him. Deidara, he helped me find myself again. He helped me find the happiness I hadn't known in years, he helped show me what love was. Sasuke though...I also didn't know what I would do if I didn't have him in my life. He helped rescue me from myself, he helped show me that I wasn't alone in the world, and he showed me that there was someone I could trust.

I was in love with both of these boys, and they have one major thing in common...they're both Criminals. Sasuke, he works with Orochimaru now. In exchange for the power to be able to defeat Itachi, he has given up the ultimate price, his freedom. It didn't seem like Sasuke cared about what happened to him anymore, I sometimes think that he believes there's nothing left for him to live for except killing Itachi. Orochimaru has his own plans for Sasuke, he wants to use his body as a new vessel for himself. He's all about sustaining his own life and mastering all jutsu of the world, I refuse to let this happen to Sasuke. I'm determined to rescue him from Orochimaru, whether he wants to be rescued or not.

Deidara, on the other hand, works for a group of S-Ranked Criminals called the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki consist of some of the most dangerous criminals the world has ever seen, they have nine members in their ranks at this time. I know Deidara never wanted to join Akatsuki, he was forced into when he lost a battle against one of their members...Itachi. Before that though, Deidara was still a criminal. He was a terrorist bomber for higher, taking on contracts just to blow things up. He wanted everyone to know of his art, that's what he lived for back then. Behind all that though, he's an amazing person. He's everything I could've ever wanted in a man, and so much more than I deserved. I'd never thought that I would be able to find love again after I lost my first love, Haku. Deidara, had managed to fill that place in my heart and show me that there was a reason to live. He was my reason.

But, I have more than one reason now. I have him, as well as Sasuke. I know I'll eventually have to make a decision, I'll have to choose between the both of them. I have no idea what I'll do but until that time comes, I'll just have to listen to my heart rather than my head.

Getting back on topic. After setting out on my journey almost three years ago, the first place I'd went to was Sunagakure. I was extremely close to Sabuka no Gaara, and his siblings Temari and Kankuro liked me pretty well. I lived with them for about two months or so, before setting out in search of other villages. I made sure to visit some of the most important hidden villages; Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Takigakure. I didn't stay in each village too long and after I'd finished all my traveling through them, I went straight back to Sunagakure. Gaara gave me the rank of a Taichou for an Onin squad after a good while, perhaps seven months worth of being there. I'm an extremely talented girl though, being trained by Momochi Zabuza had perks. I'd gained a good amount of power and control over my abilities. With the help of the Suna shinobi, I'd managed to reset all the mental blocks to keep my chakra draining ability under control. Thankfully I was able to make skin contact with people again, I'd need to make sure never to release them again. But, I'd been living in Suna for a total of a year and three months now, and I knew I'd eventually have to go back to Konohagakure to speak with the Hokage about my rank and such…even though I'd rather stay in Suna. Until then though, I planned on staying in the village with my best friend.

I glanced up from my charm bracelet, looking around at my team. Aio was the only other female on my squad and she had a pretty big mouth as well, it didn't surprise me that the boys were annoyed with her over half the time. Aio had perfect tanned skin, not too dark but not too light. Her hair was white blonde, glossy and extremely soft. Her hair had soft waves in it and fell to the bottom of her back when she wore it down, but she normally tied it back in a braided ponytail. Her eyes were bright green and her figure was...overly developed. Guys swooned at the sight of her, but her loud and obnoxious mouth was what turned them off about her.

Shigeo was the more polite one on my squad, and he was extremely respectful towards me. I knew exactly why he was as well because of Aio's big mouth, apparently he was crushing on me. I was going to feel like a real bitch when I had to turn him down, especially since he was so sweet but I _did _have a boyfriend. Shigeo was dark complexioned like most people from Suna and his hair was a medium brown color. His hair wasn't long but it wasn't short, it had a little bit of length to it but not too much. His hair was always slightly messy looking, curly and tousled all the time, it looked adorable on him. His eyes were blue and he was pretty athletically built, but he tried not too stand out in the crowd too much.

Lastly, there was Jurou. He was pretty much the rebel of my squad, always having this bad boy attitude about almost everything. He wasn't really a bad guy at all, he was rather sweet once you got to know him but he tried to protect himself with his bad boy image. Jurou was a little lighter skinned than your average Suna civilian, but his skin tone wasn't quite ivory. His hair was a light green color and it was perfectly straight. His hair fell down below his shoulders with his bangs pushed off to the side, and he tied it back in a loose/messy ponytail more than half the time. His eyes were hazel and he was athletically built like Shigeo, just a little more developed. Girls were all over him half the time, the poor guy. I felt bad for him, getting all that unwanted attention. Sometimes it winded up reminding me of Sas-

"Sada."

My head snapped up from the ground, and I looked back at my squad.

"Nani Jurou?" I inquired, he pointed up towards the sky.

I tilted my head up towards the clouds, looking in the direction he was pointing. It looked like a bird was heading in our direction, a rather huge bird at that. I bit down on my lower lip, trying to determine its species. It looked something similar to an owl, a huge owl. I blinked, furrowing my brow. That couldn't be right. Owls were creatures of the night, they were barely ever seen during the day. If they were seen, it was normally only when they were sleeping. Why would an owl be flying around during the day? There was no possible way that an owl could be that huge as well. What was going on?

I moved my eyes from the sky, looking at my team. I couldn't see if they were confused or not, but I had a feeling that they had the same confused expression on their faces that I had on mine. I knew they were all thinking along the same lines as I was.

"Something's not right." I mumbled, Aio nodded in agreement.

"Why would an owl be flying around, its late afternoon." she pondered, I shrugged.

"This doesn't feel right, something's going on." I murmured, Shigeo tapped his foot against the sandy earth.

"What should we do Taichou?" he inquired, waiting for orders.

Jurou groaned in annoyance, pulling out a kunai.

"Kami, it's a fucking owl. Just kill it and be done with it." he complained, my eyes widened when I finally realized what was going on.

"Jurou don't!"

Too late. He launched the kunai towards the owl, aiming right for it's chest. I watched the kunai for half a second before flicking my eyes to the owl. It easily dodged the kunai and a figure jumped down from it's back, landing infront of my squad. I took a step back in surprise, black cloak with a red cloud pattern.

'Akatsuki.'

The owl hovered in the air where the man had left it and he straightened up, tilting his bamboo hat down in a mocking way. I gasped quietly, when I saw a movement of blonde under the bamboo hat. It was _him _then, this wasn't looking good for my squad.

"Who...are you?" Aio breathed, sounding shocked.

"Akatsuki." Shigeo whispered, Jurou cursed.

"We're fucked." he mumbled.

"Fall back." I instructed. "I'll handle it."

"Taichou you can't." Shigeo exclaimed. "What if-"

"That's an order." I interrupted, whipping my head around to them. "Get to Suna, now. Report this to the Kazekage."

"Demo-"

"Do it!" I ordered, they all nodded grudgingly.

I watched them run off at lightening speed and turned to face the Akatsuki member, moving my hand up to my Onin mask when I knew my squad was out of sight. I easily took my mask off and tossed it to the ground, looking up through my bangs at the Akatsuki member. He chuckled to himself, moving his hat off his head, and let it fall to the ground. I bolted across the sand as fast as my legs would carry me and landed in the arms of...wait. Arm...? What the hell had happened?

"Deidara?" I questioned, he chuckled quietly to himself.

I smiled a little at him, looking over my boyfriend's physical condition. His hair was still beautiful. Long, blonde, pulled up into a high ponytail sitting atop his head, with his bangs covering the left side of his face. I noted he had a mechanical device over his left eye, that was something different than I was used to, it looked like a scope of some sort. His right eye was still a beautiful bright blue color, still so entrancing. He had one arm rather than two, what had happened to him?

"Sada-chan."

I looked away from his missing arm, my red orbs meeting his visible blue one.

"Nani?" I asked curiously, he smiled a little.

"Don't ask about it hm." he asked of me, I nodded.

"Fine...what are you doing here?" I inquired, he rolled his eye in amusement.

Even though I'd promised not to ask about his missing arm, he knew I would ask about things retaining to it. After years of us being together, he knew me better than I knew myself at times. He understood my ways of thinking and I knew that he would also intercept my questions as best he could, he didn't want me involved with any of his work with the Akatsuki. He wanted to keep me as uninformed as possible, only because he wanted to keep me safe though. If I knew anything about Akatsuki, I knew that it would be extremely bad for me if someone found out about my knowledge of them. Whether it be the shinobi villages or Akatsuki themselves, things wouldn't look good for me. That's why Deidara didn't tell me anything about his missions and assignments, all so he could keep me safe from harm.

"A mission." he replied simply, I nodded a bit. "Don't ask what."

I wrinkled my nose in amusement, not surprised that he could read my mind as well as he could. He chuckled, pressing his lips against my forehead. I smiled serenely and leaned as close to him as I could, hugging him tightly around the torso. He chuckled again, pressing his lips into my hair.

"I've missed you Sada." he told me, I nodded in agreement.

"I haven't seen you for ages, and you suddenly show up here. I'm so happy to see you, it's been so hard not being with you everyday." I said quietly, hating how I was beginning to get all emotional. "Deidara I-"

"I know Sada-chan hm." he interrupted, holding me close to him. "I don't have much time though, gomenasai."

I nodded sullenly, hating how he wouldn't be able to stay long with me. I still understood that it wasn't safe for him to be out in the open like this, since he was a wanted Criminal and all. Even though he was a Criminal, I couldn't help but love him as much as I did. I loved him before I knew what he was, and I loved him just as much afterwards. He was such a good person, I just wished people would be able to see in him what I saw. I didn't know what I would do without him in my life.

"It's okay, I'm just happy to see you." I told him, he smiled his perfect smile at me.

"I know, me too hm." he agreed, I giggled softly.

"When can I see you again?" I asked, he chuckled quietly in amusement.

"Miss me that much hm?" he teased, I felt the blood rush to my cheeks.

"I-I-I...ano..."

He laughed heartily and pressed his lips against my cheek, running his fingers through my long blue violet hair. I smiled to myself and kissed his cheek, giggling again when he rubbed his nose against mine. Even though Deidara was two and a half years older than me, he knew how to be gentle with me. He had never pushed me into doing something that I wasn't comfortable with, he even always asked me if he could-

"Sada, would it be alright if I kissed you hm?" he asked, I nodded eagerly.

"I've missed your kisses." I said honestly, he chuckled softly.

"And I've missed you." he whispered next to my ear, I felt my cheeks burn hotter.

He chuckled again before gently pressing his lips against mine, holding my body close to his. I smiled into the kiss, moving my lips against his in one of the most innocent kisses we'd ever shared. I slid my arms around his neck, not wanting this moment to ever end. I didn't like the idea of losing Deidara, but I knew that within merely a few more seconds-

He pulled back from my lips and leaned his forehead against mine, his forehead protector against my head and sighed softly to himself. I stared up into his eye, hating how my emotions were beginning to get the better of me. I knew what was coming, and it was one of the hardest parts about our meetings.

"I have to go now hm." he murmured, I nodded sadly.

"Just...kiss me one more time." I whispered, he nodded.

He tilted his head to the side, pressing his lips back against mine. I kissed him again, showing him through the kiss how much I cared about him. Although I missed our passionate and heartfelt kisses, I needed just gentle ones right now. I knew that if we started, then I wouldn't be able to stop. I'd missed him so much, that I wouldn't be able to control myself if we started out passionate kisses. It tore me up inside at the thought of having to leave him, it literally felt as though my chest was being pulled apart. I moved my lips against his once more before pulling back and hugging him tightly.

"Sada-chan, please don't cry hm." he asked of me, I nodded.

"I won't, only for you." I whispered, he sighed quietly.

"Gomen, I have to leave now." he said sadly, I nodded against his shoulder.

"Come back to me." I pleaded, he chuckled at my request.

I pulled back from him and looked up into his face, feeling rather confused. He smiled softly and kissed my forehead, moving his arm from around my waist.

"I have no one else to come back to hm. No one I would be willing to go back to, only you." he told me, I nodded in agreement. "I'll see you again, soon hm."

I smiled softly and nodded, watching him place his hat back on his head. He jumped up, landing back on the huge owl, and looked down over the side. I giggled and waved to him, he said

"And Sada."

I looked at him confused, he grinned.

"I love you hm." he said, I nodded in agreement.

"I love you too Dei."

He grinned again and took off in the direction he'd been heading before the kunai incident. I sighed sadly and picked my Onin mask up from the ground. I dusted it off as best I could and covered my face with it, taking off at lightening speed in the direction of Sunagakure.

'I love you Deidara, more than you'll ever know.'

* * *

**Author's Note: There you are, Chapter one is officially up. I hope you enjoyed it and was happy that Deidara was immediately introduced into the story. Having to wait for him to show up would totally suck huh? Chapters worth of chapters worth of waiting...urg that would frustrate me. So I decided to be nice and let you all see he and Sada together in the very beginning. You all know I have a policy right, just like for my other stories. No reviews, no new chapter. And none of that simple stuff like "awesome" or "cool". I'd like to know what exactly you liked about it and if there was something you didn't like. Remember, writers like to know if they're doing a good job or a bad job so let me know =] FIVE REVIEWS=NEW CHAPTER!!!!**

* * *

_PREVIEW OF CHAPTER TWO_

_"Kankuro!"_

_I bolted to the puppeteer's side and knelt beside him, lightly placing my hand on his back. I could tell that his breathing was irregular, something was wrong. I placed my hand on his shoulder and moved the other from his back, to his side. I carefully turned him over from lying on his stomach, to lying on his back. I could see that he had a chest wound, it didn't look deep but it wasn't just some tiny scratch either. He'd been stabbed by something, but it hadn't been by a kunai or katana though. I hovered over him and placed my ear against the uninjured part of his chest, listening for a heartbeat of some kind._

_'Please, please, please. Don't let him be dead.'_


	3. Chapter Two: Shocking Discoveries

Chapter Two

_Desert of Kaze no Kuni; Sada_

I traveled in the direction of Sunagakure for a good while, perhaps an hour or so, before I came across something that both shocked and scared me. My entire team lay wasted on the sand, the sand had turned muddy looking from their blood mixing with the tiny grains. I made sure to check pulses and heartbeats, at least five times on each of them before I finally managed to accept that they were dead. I moved my Onin mask off my face, attaching it to my side, and wiped at my tear filled eyes. I sniffed a few times, coughing from the attempt to hold in my tears, and slowly began walking.

I couldn't understand who had done this to my team, how had they been defeated so easily? They were _Onin_, they should've been able to handle themselves. They _were _able to handle themselves. And another question running through my mind, _who _had defeated them. I hadn't run across anyone during my traveling, but I _had _seen some hunchback looking creature heading in the direction I was coming from. It'd been some distance away from me so I hadn't bothered to investigate what it was but now that I thought about it, what if that creature had actually been a _person_? What if that person had been...an Akatsuki member?

"Fuck." I cursed, kicking at the ground.

Sand flew up in every direction, a cloud of sand following behind it when it dropped back to the ground. I coughed and clenched my fists, hating that all this had happened. Gaara would be so disappointed with me, especially since my entire team had been assassinated. I needed to get back to Sunagakure and _fast_. I looked up from the sand and took off across the desert, trying to get back to the village as quickly as I possibly could. I needed to inform Sunagakure that two Akatsuki members were in our land, right under our very noses. I didn't want Deidara to get caught, believe me I didn't. But I knew the Akatsuki were after the Jinchuuriki hosts and with Gaara having the Ichibi Bijuu inside him, he needed to stay on the alert with them in the area.

_CRUNCH_

I skid to a stop and looked down curiously, wondering what I had stepped on. I tilted my head to the side and bent down, picking up what I'd stepped on. It looked like a leg of some sort but it was fake. Like it was something from a doll, a puppet maybe. Wait...it was the leg to Karasu. My head snapped up and a gasp escaped my lips, the puppet leg slipping from my fingers.

"Kankuro!"

I bolted to the puppeteer's side and knelt beside him, lightly placing my hand on his back. I could tell that his breathing was irregular, something was wrong. I placed my hand on his shoulder and moved the other from his back, to his side. I carefully turned him over from lying on his stomach, to lying on his back. I could see that he had a chest wound, it didn't look deep but it wasn't just some tiny scratch either. He'd been stabbed by something, but it hadn't been by a kunai or katana though. I hovered over him and placed my ear against the uninjured part of his chest, listening for a heartbeat of some kind.

'Please, please, please. Don't let him be dead.'

_THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP_

I gasped and moved my head off his chest, he was still alive. I needed to get him conscious, he couldn't stay unconscious or he could slip into the black abyss of death without my knowing it. If he was conscious I could keep him talking to me, that way I would know he was still alive. His heartbeat was irregular though, as if he _actually _was slowly dying. I needed to do something, and _fast_.

I swallowed nervously, hating the idea of what I was about to do, and leaned over him. I moved closer to him, my cheeks going pink at the thought, and pressed my mouth against his. I exhaled into his mouth, trying to get more air into his lungs, and moved back. Damn it, I had to do it again. I took a deep breath and pressed my mouth back against his, exhaling again. He coughed and I moved back, a smile coming to my lips.

"Kankuro."

His eyes slowly opened and he blinked, staring up at me. His eyes were glazed, cloudy looking. This wasn't good, not good in the least.

"Sada." he whispered, I nodded.

"I'm right here, I'll get you back to Suna." I swore, my smile widening by a fraction. "You'll be alright."

I cringed when he grabbed my arm, looking at him confused. His grip was especially weaker than normal but it'd still surprised me. What was going on in his head? He didn't look happy at the idea of going back home, why was he out here in the first place?

"Forget about me. Gaara...you have to get Gaara..." he choked, I shook my head.

"We'll get Gaara once we get you to Suna, you can talk to him then." I told him. "Rest for now."

"You...don't understand-"

"Stop straining yourself." I interrupted, placing my hand on his. "Just rest, I'll take care of everything."

I watched his eyes slip shut and my arm slipped out of his grip, he was unconscious again. This wasn't looking good for him, I needed to get some help here quickly. I bit my thumb and quickly made some handsigns as fast as my hands would move.

'Summoning no jutsu.'

I looked at the hawk perched on my arm and took the little holder off its back. The hawk flew off my arm and started pecking around in the sand, looking for a snack of some sort.

"Wait right here." I ordered, unfolding the blank paper.

I quickly wrote a short letter, informing whoever picked this up of my situation. I requested the assistance of a medical shinobi for Kankuro, as well as a few shinobi of _at least _Jounin rank since I knew something serious was going on. I rolled the letter up and placed it in the holder, holding out my arm. The hawk flew back to me, perching itself on my arm, and I placed the holder back on it's back. I looked the creature straight in the eyes and said with a stern tone

"Listen, that man is going to die if he doesn't receive medical attention soon. I want you to deliver that letter to the first Suna shinobi you come across, understood? Go towards Sunagakure, now."

The bird tilted it's head to the side and took off into the sky, heading in the direction of Sunagakure as instructed. I turned my attention to Kankuro, I needed to get him conscious again. I leaned over him, my blue violet hair running across his chest and said

"Kankuro, wake up. You can't sleep."

I grimaced when he didn't open his eyes and checked his pulse, it had slowed by a small amount. It wasn't by a lethal amount, but I knew something was severely wrong with him. He looked like he was in pain, really _strong _pain. I didn't want to wake him up but I knew I had to.

"Kankuro." I yelled, he woke up with a jolt. "You can't fall asleep, stay awake."

"Sada, you have to...get Gaara." he repeated, I shook my head.

"I'm not leaving you here alone. I just sent a messenger hawk, help will be here soon." I told him, he cringed in pain.

"No...leave me. Save Gaara." he asked of me, was he delusional now too?

Gaara was safe, he was back in Sunagakure with everyone else. I didn't understand what Kankuro was talking about but I guessed he was just delusional. I needed to find out how this had happened to the puppeteer, I needed to keep him talking until medical help arrived.

"Kankuro, tell me what happened." I asked him, he took a slow breath.

"They...they took Gaara." he said, my eyes widened.

So he wasn't delusional then, but who would be powerful enough to kidnap Gaara? There was no way anyone had managed to beat his sand or his absolute defense, no one had ever managed to get passed it.

"Nani?"

"Akatsuki...attacked the village. They took…Gaara…away." he informed me, I felt tears well up around my eyes.

"Nani?" I repeated, tears slipped down my cheeks.

So this had been the mission Deidara had been sent on, he'd been sent to Sunagakure to kidnap Gaara. No wonder he'd looked so guilty and had to leave sooner than he normally did, he hadn't seemed himself the whole time he'd been talking to me either. But if they'd kidnapped Gaara, then that must've meant they were after the Bijuu inside him. What were they planning on doing to him?

"Please Sada…you have to…save Gaara." he asked of me, I blinked.

Now I was torn to make a decision. Rescue my best friend from Akatsuki or stay with Kankuro. I had no idea what the Akatsuki were planning on doing to Gaara and that's what made the decision so difficult to make. If I left to save him, Kankuro could die. But if I stayed with Kankuro, then Gaara could die as well. I didn't know what to do, what _could _I do? I swallowed hard and said with a choked voice

"No, I'm staying here with you."

He didn't look as though he agreed with my decision, but it seemed that he didn't have the strength to argue with me. I blinked back the tears, taking Kankuro's hand.

"Don't worry, we'll get Gaara back. First, we have to help you." I whispered, I could feel his body trembling.

"No…leave me. I'm dying." he choked, the memory came back to me full force.

_"Now Zabuza you die!" Kakashi shouted from some distance away from us. _

_Haku quickly broke the kiss and looked at me sadly."Don't." I begged, knowing what he was thinking. _

_He shook his head and said with an urgent tone"I love you Sada.""Don't!" I pleaded, he ran. _

_Why, why couldn't he listen to me? I ran in the direction Haku had ran, I didn't want to lose him, he was the only thing I had, the only thing precious to me. I had to protect him at all costs, I couldn't survive without him. I stopped seeing Kakashi's arm go through Haku, he was...dying. _

_"No!" I screamed. _

_Right when Zabuza got out his huge katana, I ran right at them and managed to pull Haku's body away from them before he had the chance to swing it at Kakashi. Dropping to my knees I held him, I held him close to me. _

_"Don't die Haku." I whispered sadly."Gomenasai Sada-chan." he whispered, staring up into my eyes. _

_Clashes, they were fighting. I didn't care either, I wasn't going to pay attention to anything but Haku."No, you won't die. You can't die." I said softly. "You're everything to me.""You won't be alone, I'll make sure you find someone." Haku promised. "I wasn't meant to live.""Hai you were, you're not going to die." I choked, tears rolling down my cheeks."I am though." Haku said, coughing up blood."No, don't leave me." I pleaded."Sada, I love you." Haku said softly. _

_He touched my face and smiled sadly. I felt more tears roll down my cheeks and kissed his forehead lovingly."I love you too Haku." I whispered, tears cascading down my face. _

_I looked down into his beautiful brown eyes one more time, as his hand fell from my face, his eyes lost all life. _

"No, you can't die. You _won't _die." I said seriously, shaking my head. "I'll take care of you. I can't leave you Kankuro, you're…my friend."

He smiled a little, as much as he was able to in his condition, and I felt more tears begin rolling down my cheeks. This wasn't turning out to be a good day in the least. I needed to suck it up though and keep him talking to me, I needed to distract him from the pain until the medics arrived.

"Who hurt you Kankuro?" I asked quietly, he took a shaky breath.

"Akasuna…no Sasori." he replied, I nodded a little.

I honestly had no utter idea who Akasuna no Sasori was, but I could obviously tell he was from Sunagakure because of his name. Hopefully Kankuro could give me a little bit of his history, I needed to know as much as possible about this man named Sasori.

"Who is he?" I asked, trying to ignore how worried I was over the puppeteer's injuries.

"He…was from Suna, h-he left twenty years ago." he rasped, I chewed on my lower lip.

"So he's a missing nin." I concluded, Kankuro gave a short nod in reply.

"An…S-Ranked Criminal." he added, rather weakly as well.

'Those medics better hurry up and get here, he needs a doctor badly. I'm no good at medical jutsu…only for myself and I don't think darkness style medical techniques would help him. Kami, I knew I should've underwent serious training for medical jutsu. This is what happens when I don't think about the future…bad things.'

"Sada-dono!"

I looked over my shoulder, a small smile coming to my lips when I saw a bunch of Suna shinobi approaching at rapid speed. I looked back at Kankuro, saying

"Don't worry, help's here."

He didn't look too pleased with me, I knew he must've been angry with me for staying with him. What could I do though? Without a squad, I would've stood no chance against two Akatsuki members…especially since I would've been having to fight against the person that I loved with all my heart. The Suna shinobi skid to a stop and I looked back at them, saying

"Get him back to Suna as quickly as you can. Watch his injuries, he's been poisoned." I instructed, they all nodded at the command.

"Hai Sada-dono."

I moved to my feet, watching as two gently picked Kankuro up, heading back towards Sunagakure as quickly as possible. I stared in their direction as their figures grew tinier by the second, before finally disappearing from view. I turned to the other three, saying

"Gather his puppets, he'll be wanting them even though they're a mess."

"Hai."

I chewed on my lower lip as I watched them gather the puppets as instructed, staring up towards the sky. I blinked, a sad and lonely feeling creeping towards my chest, and put my hand over my heart. I clutched the material of my shirt above my breast, lowering my head towards the sandy earth. I managed to hold in the tears I wanted to let out, I couldn't let any of these shinobi see me cry, especially since showing emotion was against the standard rules of shinobi conduct. I couldn't appear to be weak, even though I _actually _was a rather emotionally weak person. I guess that's what happened when you'd lost everything you once held dear to you, when you'd been separated from those you cared about, when the whole world seemed as though it was turned against you, that was my life. I sighed, the wind sweeping by us and blew my hair around my face.

"Sada-dono, we've retrieved all parts of his puppets." a shinobi said, I nodded once.

I looked up from the ground, staring off into the distance, trying to think of what to do next. No matter how much I wanted to, I knew I couldn't go after Gaara. I needed to stay in Sunagakure and wait for some type of instruction from the council, even though I would much rather save my best friend from the enemy. I sighed softly, my hair still whipping around my face and looked back at the Suna shinobi, saying

"We're going back to the village to await further instructions, let's go."

"Hai." they all agreed, I nodded and began running back in the direction to Suna.

"What happened in the village, tell me everything you know." I ordered, looking back over my shoulder at the three.

"Hai, a member of the Akatsuki entered the village and engaged in a battle with Kazekage-sama. He used explosives-"

'So it was Deidara then…this is getting all the more complicated by the minute. Nande Deidara, why did you have to take my best friend away from me? Why did you have to take the only person I had left, the only person I could call a friend?'

"Kazekage-sama had to use his absolute defense against him and managed to dislocate the enemy's arm."

'So that's why his arm was missing, I knew Gaara's sand was tough. Hopefully he'll be able to reattach it though, having a boyfriend with one arm would be a little bad. I'm just totally destroying myself doing all this thinking. I don't know who I should be thinking about, Gaara or Deidara? Deidara's my boyfriend but Gaara's my best friend. Should I be happy that Deidara's alive or should I be mad at him for kidnapping Gaara? Should I be worried that Gaara was kidnapped or should I be angry that he hurt Deidara? This isn't working out too well for me, having people in my lives that are each other's enemies isn't a good thing.'

"The Akatsuki member was going to drop a bomb of great destructive capabilities on the village, Kazekage-sama managed to intercept the attack with sand."

'That's Gaara for you, he cares more about his people than anything in the world. That's what makes him a great Kazekage, he's always been a good person, he'd just never been cared for and that was the reason he was so emotionally unstable. I remember…back when we first met and his eyes were filled with so much loneliness and hatred, back when he didn't even really know I existed for that matter, the very first time I saw him.'

_"You're going to use Karasu for this?" Temari asked with a shocked tone. _

_I looked over to see Kankuro had pulled the coffin like thing off his back."I hate punks." Kankuro mumbled."Kankuro, you're a disgrace to our village." a cold voice said. _

_I looked over towards the tree that Sasuke was sitting in and saw a red head, standing upside down on a tree. He had sea green eyes and the kanji for love was tattooed on his forehead, above his left eye. I stared into his eyes, mentally gasping to myself in sadness. I could see a look in his eyes, a look that both Sasuke and I had, loneliness. A look of betrayal and sadness, desperation, hatred…anger. His eyes told me how angry he was at the world, how unloved he felt, unwanted…he was the same as me in that aspect. I wanted to know more about this redhead, and why his eyes screamed about his loneliness. Maybe…he was someone else I could trust. He also had the Sand Village headband like Temari and Kankuro, I was guessing they were on the same team._

_"These punks started it Gaara." Kankuro raged."Shut up or I'll kill you." Gaara growled._

Gaara had been so cold back then, not even caring if he had to kill his siblings to get to his next target. Back then, he'd thought his purpose in life was to kill others. He thought that was the only reason he was alive, he even had come to accept the lies that his village had directed towards him his whole life, that he was a monster. By talking with him though and showing him that there was someone in the world that cared about him, he'd been able to get away from that path he'd put himself on. He was still slightly cold but I could just see that he was more at peace, that he knew that he had a purpose in life that would benefit both himself and others. He'd changed and it had all been for the better, he was so much closer to Temari and Kankuro now because of his change. Family was an important thing, I knew that I'd never be able to face my family again after what they'd put me through though.

"But then, the Akatsuki member's bombs managed to get through Kazekage-sama's absolute defense. He didn't kill Kazekage-sama, he captured him and took him out of the village." the shinobi finished, I lowered my eyes in thought.

This wasn't good, this wasn't good in the least. We needed to get back to Sunagakure so I could put together a team to go out and rescue Gaara. I needed some Onin, a good squad or two depending on how strong the enemy was. I licked my lips in thought, continuing to bolt towards the village as fast as my legs would carry me.

"We'll rescue him." I stated, sounding determined. "Our shinobi are strong, we'll rescue the Kazekage and bring him home."

None of them responded, I knew they were doubtful but they didn't want to admit to it out loud. There was one thing I was sure of though, I wasn't going to let my friend die. If I had to fight Akatsuki, then so be it. They weren't taking away one of the few precious people in my life, they already had Deidara and they weren't taking Gaara. I'd take them both back, Gaara and Deidara. They were my precious people, and I wasn't going to allow _anyone _to keep them from me. Whether it be S-Ranked Criminals or even a hidden village, no one would separate me from them.

'Gaara, I promise I'll save you...no matter what it takes.'

* * *

**Author's Note: Alrighty, so there's chapter two. I hope you all enjoyed it and noticed that I rewrote certain parts of the flashbacks, in my own opinion they were poorly written. Looking back at my old stories makes me realize how much I've progressed as a writer and it makes me feel good to know that I'm making progress. But anyway, I have some questions for you all to answer for me through reviews. What do you think will happen with Sada and Deidara's relationship now that she knows he was the one to kidnap Gaara? Will their relationship last or will it break into pieces? Let me know what you think will happen when they meet again? FIVE REVIEWS=NEW CHAPTER!!!**

* * *

**_Michi-tan: Very nice question, why didn't Sada notice that Deidara had Gaara with him? Well, Deidara made sure that the bird was high enough in the sky to where no one would see that he had Gaara captive. When he and Sada were alone he focused his chakra slightly to raise the bird higher in the sky, Sada didn't notice this slight change because she was too occupied with the fact that she was with Deidara again. Hope that helps your confusion :)_**

**_PhoenixBreaker90: You are correct my dear. Deidara had just gotten through his battle with Gaara and lost his arm. As you can tell by the above explanation, that is the reason Sada didn't notice Deidara had Gaara with him. The reason for Deidara being alone was because he was ordered to go on ahead. So...there you are. Hope you liked the chapter =]_**

* * *

_CHAPTER THREE PREVIEW_

_"What do you mean we can't go after them?" I exclaimed angrily, almost throwing my hands in the air in frustration. "They kidnapped Gaara, we can't just abandon him. Or are you suggesting that we should, he's our Kazekage Baki-"_

_"I know that Sada." he interrupted, raising a hand to tell me to calm myself down._

_"Then what do you suggest we do." I almost screamed, he placed his hand lightly on my shoulder._

_"Sada, the Akatsuki are extremely powerful. The Akatsuki member that kidnapped Kazekage-sama didn't sustain many injuries during the battle, he fought Gaara one on one and managed to defeat him. They are powerful Sada, we need assistance." he told me, I stared at him blankly._

_"From who?" I questioned, not understanding why he had to be acting so stubborn. "No one could get here soon enough, we'd have to wait for a few days until any shinobi would arrive. We can't afford to wait that long, we have to dispatch some experienced Anbu or Onin and go after them **now**."_


	4. Chapter Three: Goodbye Sunagakure

Chapter Three

_Kaze no Kuni, Sunagakure; Sada and Baki_

I glared angrily in Baki's direction, what the hell was he saying? Another question that popped in my head, _why _was he saying this? He was a member of the council after all so he had the authority to give me the order I was so impatiently waiting to receive, but he'd surprised me by saying the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned the majority of my weight on my right side, Baki didn't look very amused with the glare I was directing towards him. He deserved it though, especially after what he'd just said. Normally, I didn't get this angry with people but this was one of those rare times that I'd managed to get pissed off with someone for being a total baka.

"What do you mean we can't go after them?" I exclaimed angrily, almost throwing my hands in the air in frustration. "They kidnapped Gaara, we can't just abandon him. Or are you suggesting that we should, he's our Kazekage Baki-"

"I know that Sada." he interrupted, raising a hand to tell me to calm myself down.

"Then what do you suggest we do." I almost screamed, he placed his hand lightly on my shoulder.

"Sada, the Akatsuki are extremely powerful. The Akatsuki member that kidnapped Kazekage-sama didn't sustain many injuries during the battle, he fought Gaara one on one and managed to defeat him. They are powerful Sada, we need assistance." he told me, I stared at him blankly.

"From who?" I questioned, not understanding why he had to be acting so stubborn. "No one could get here soon enough, we'd have to wait for a few days until any shinobi would arrive. We _can't _afford to wait that long, we have to dispatch some experienced Anbu or Onin and go after them _now_."

"Sada, Kankuro has been severely injured. I've already sent word to Konohagakure to send some experienced shinobi to our aid, along with a medical shinobi to heal Kankuro." he informed me, I blinked dumbly.

"Konoha shinobi." I repeated, he nodded once. "Why can't our shinobi heal him?"

"This poison that was used on Kankuro is far too advanced for any of our shinobi, even Chiyo-baasama isn't capable of healing him." he said, I felt my heart drop down to my stomach at the words.

"Demo…only Tsunade-sama could heal him then. Is she coming, she couldn't leave Konohagakure since she's their Hokage, could she?" I asked, feeling extremely worried.

"She's sending her most skilled medical shinobi, one of her own subordinates." he stated, I pursed my lips.

"This is ridiculous Baki!" I shouted, his hand quickly moved from my shoulder at my outburst. "Why should we have to depend on someone to help us out, we could do just fine on our own."

"Sada, I don't understand exactly what you have against Konoha since you're originally from there but they are our only hope." Baki said, sounding annoyed.

And again, Baki was downright wrong. I was _not _a shinobi of Konohagakure, I never would be a shinobi from that village. I was a Kuraigakure shinobi and although I hated that village with all my soul and being, it was more my home than Konohagakure. Konoha had shunned me because of my abilities, not understanding something brings out fear in people. That's what had happened in Konohagakure and that's why I was now living in Sunagakure, they weren't as judgmental about techniques they didn't understand.

"They're _Kankuro's _only hope." Baki added, I lowered my red eyes towards the floor.

"Very well, but I'm leading the rescue mission when they arrive." I stated, looking at Baki.

He nodded once, seeming as though he didn't want to let me but he knew that I wouldn't listen even if he did say no. When it came to Gaara, I didn't think about consequences or anything along those lines. Gaara was one of the only people I had in the world, one of the only people I could call a friend. I'd lost Sasuke, I wasn't going to let myself lose Gaara as well.

"Get some rest Sada." he advised, I shook my head.

"There's no way I can, not while Kankuro's like this." I argued, he let a soft sigh escape his lips.

"Sada, you need all the strength you can get. This mission, will be an S-Ranked." he told me, I nodded a little. "Go on."

I nodded grudgingly and walked down the hallway, my blue violet hair swaying around my upper arms as I walked. I pursed my lips, hating how the all this was turning out. I couldn't just sit still and let these Konoha shinobi come to our rescue, I was stronger than I used to be by a good amount. I didn't need anyone to rescue me like the Suna shinobi did, I knew I could handle myself just fine. I chewed on my lower lip in thought, walking out of the building towards the building that instructed Anbu and Onin training. I had a couple of people in there that would listen to me, we were merely acquaintances but I knew that they would share my views concerning what was happening with Gaara. I easily entered the building, heading down the hallways towards the room I knew the Onin occupied. Asking other Onin for help was like a death sentence, but I knew a few of the people in there would be willing to hear me out since I was a Taichou of an Onin squad...that had been assassinated. I knew a good number of the people in there were more than likely pissed at me for allowing my squad to be assassinated, so not many of them would be willing to talk to me for my failure to protect my squad. I sighed softly and entered the room, conversation stopped and all eyes turned in my direction.

"Sada-san." a voice said, sounding cheerful.

"Ooi girl, come sit with us." one asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, get your ass over here." another ordered.

"Please!" one added.

I giggled softly to myself and walked across the room, taking a seat at the table with the people. The first person my eyes landed on, Kane. He had straight navy blue colored hair that he always kept pulled up into a high ponytail. His ponytail ended at the nape of his neck, and his bangs slightly hung infront of his eyes. His eyes were a beautiful green color, extremely enchanting. His skin tone was very fair, an ivory color and he was pretty athletically built. Next was Yoshi. He had dark purple hair that hung a few inches above his shoulders in a messy type of style with his bangs slightly infront of his eyes. His eyes were a hazel color and his skin tone was slightly tanned, a little lighter than a normal Suna citizen and he had a muscular build. The next person, Akira. Akira's hair was a light blonde and cut in a style like Gaara's, only it was longer. His hair was also very curly, his hair always in his eyes. I had no idea what color his eyes were, and it made me incredibly nosy. His skin tone was the same ivory color as Kane's, as well as his body type. Last person, Yori. Yori had straight hair, but it had enough body to it that it wouldn't lie completely flat. His hair was a soft black color, and his hair reached his chin in length (think of the style that Yondaime Hokage had). Yori's eyes were a golden color, incredibly beautiful. His skin was also an ivory color like Kane and Akira's, and he was a little more muscular than Yoshi. I got along with all of them rather well at times but we weren't really friends though.

"Ooi guys." I said sweetly, Kane chuckled and playfully punched my arm.

"We heard what happened to your squad, gomenasai." he said, sounding sincere for once.

"Arigato, means a lot to me." I said softly, Akira lightly patted my shoulder comfortingly. "I really don't wanna talk about it…but there's something else on my mind."

"What's going on?" he questioned, seeing the look on my face.

"Well…I need your help with something guys." I told them seriously, Yori nodded slightly.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, I chewed my lower lip in thought and said softly

"You know about the Akatsuki invading this place and taking away Kazekage-sama, right?"

"Yeah, we're pretty pissed about it." Akira stated, I knew they would be. "We need to rescue him but so far, no luck."

"Yeah, I know." I said sadly, rubbing my arm in attempt to ignore the heartbreaking feeling in my chest. "Demo….we can get him back."

"Did we receive an order of some kind?" Yoshi asked, leaning his cheek against his hand.

I shook my head, hopefully they wouldn't get pissed off with what I was about to say. I needed help with this, I knew I wouldn't manage to pull it off on my own. I took a slow breath and quickly looked around the room, making sure none of the other Onin were eavesdropping on our conversation.

"No, but I have a plan." I told them, lowering my voice.

They all looked slightly confused as to what I was saying, Yori finally said after a moment of silence

"What do you have planned?"

"We need to rescue him, if we wait any longer something could happen to him." I pointed out, they nodded in agreement. "The council want us to wait for Konohagakure to come to our aid before we attempt another rescue operation, that's at least another two days worth of waiting. We can't wait that long, we need to dispatch some shinobi _now_."

"And let me guess, you want us to help you." Kane said, sounding slightly amused.

I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth at his tone of voice and nodded once, praying that they would agree to help me. I couldn't sit still in this village and wonder what was happening to my best friend, we had to take the offensive rather than defensive. Kane looked around at the other boys, smirks slowly began coming to their lips. I felt my smile widen and Akira nodded eagerly, saying

"We're in, I've been wanting to break the rules for a while now."

I giggled softly in amusement and Yoshi said

"Okay, here's what we'll do. You go on outside the village, pretend you're doing an observation mission or something. We'll be there in about ten minutes and we can go track these Akatsuki guys down."

"Arigato." I whispered, Yori patted my shoulder kindly.

"We know how much he means to you, how could we just let you go off by yourself?" he said with a serious tone, I smiled a little at the gesture.

"Arigato." I repeated, moving up from my seat.

I walked across the floor of the room, heading down the hallway to the supply room. I quickly filled my weapon's pouch to the brim with some basic shinobi gear and such before exiting the small building, walking in the direction of the outskirts of the village after pulling on my Onin mask. I looked around the area and leaned back against the wall, staring around at the sand for a good number of minutes. After what seemed like hours worth of waiting, the boys had finally arrived.

"Alright, let's do this thing." Kane cheered, I rolled my eyes to myself.

"Stop being such a loudmouth, we're gonna get caught if you don't shut your trap." Akira hissed, I nodded in agreement.

"Let's hurry and get out of here before they realize what we're up to." I instructed, they all nodded in agreement.

We all took off at lightening speed across the desert, heading away from Sunagakure as fast as our legs could move. We moved across the sand silently, not saying anything to one another when Yoshi finally said

"Do we have any idea where they're hiding out?"

I shook my head at the question, not having the slightest clue where the Akatsuki would have taken Gaara. There weren't too many places to hide in the desert so they obviously couldn't have stayed in Kaze no Kuni, where would they have gone though? I blinked in thought, trying to think of all the possibilities. There was no way they could've gone as far as Konohagakure, they wouldn't have done something so reckless. I was positive that they knew that Sunagakure and Konohagakure were allies, therefore, they wouldn't do something to jeopardize their mission by entering enemy territory.

"They wouldn't go into Konoha." I stated, nodding to myself in thought. "They wouldn't be that dumb."

"Exactly, so that only leaves-" Yoshi started.

"Right." I interrupted, smirking under my Onin mask. "Let's move faster, hopefully we can manage to jump them."

"Hai." they all agreed.

"Don't be reckless." I advised, looking over my shoulder at them. "These guys are S-Ranked Criminals, we have to have our guard up at all times."

"Worried about us Sada-san?" Kane teased, I rolled my eyes to myself at his tone.

"Kane, she's just trying to look out for us." Yori said, sounding a little angry with him.

"I know but still, we're Onin so we obviously know what to expect." Kane complained, Yoshi shoved him slightly.

"Shut it, have you ever fought against S-Ranked Criminals before?" he questioned, the bluenette snorted.

"Fucking duh." he scoffed.

"Well then Smartass-san, have you ever fought an Akatsuki member?" Akira laughed, Kane grumbled quietly to himself.

"Bet they're not that tough." he mumbled, I lowered my eyes and could just feel the memory come back to me at full force.

_"Leader-sama would be interested in what she can do, we're taking her with us." _

_My mind went blank and I stared at him, feeling slightly terrified. He wanted to take me with them? What was I supposed to do? I brought my fist back and attempted to punch him. He easily caught it and slammed my arm against the wall. I stopped myself from letting out the gasp of pain and stared at him with as little emotion as I could muster._

_"Itachi-san, I don't see what exactly leader-sama would be interested in, hm." Deidara lied, staring straight into my eyes. _

_Itachi never took his onyx orbs from mine when he said_

_"She can go through things Deidara, that's something leader-sama would be interested in."_

_"I agree with Itachi-san." Kisame said. "I've never heard of anything like this before."_

_"My sources have also informed me that Orochimaru is also after this girl." Itachi said in a monotone voice. "If she's valuable enough that Orochimaru wants her, she must have power; we are taking her with us." _

_I moved my other hand to punch him since he didn't seem like he was paying attention to me, and he grabbed that one as well. He slammed it against the wall above my head and closed his eyes. He focused his chakra for a moment and slowly opened his eyes. _

_"Mangekyou Sharingan." _

_Everything seemed to go still for a moment and I looked around, feeling rather confused but also extremely terrified. I was in an entirely different world, it was so dark in here; what was this place? _

_"Tsukiyomi." _

_I gasped and quickly turned around, Itachi was standing there, staring at me with an emotionless face. I walked backwards and felt something stab my side. I gasped and bit my lip. _

_'This isn't real, it's genjutsu, that's all.' _

_I took a breath and he stabbed me again, in the stomach this time. I scrunched my nose in pain and held in the scream I wanted to let out. _

"_You don't scream, scream." _

_I glared at him and bit the inside of my jaw, I wasn't screaming for anyone. He forced the kunai further into my stomach and I let out a quiet gasp of pain, blood trickling down my stomach. _

'_This doesn't seem like any ordinary genjutsu.' _

"_It's because it's not." Itachi said coldly._

_I looked towards Itachi and attempted to get up to run; I couldn't move, I was trapped. I felt my heart racing in terror, it seemed to be getting harder for me to breathe. He roughly grabbed a hold of my hair and ran a kunai along my neck, cutting through the skin but luckily not the vein. I whimpered quietly in fear, and he gave me an emotionless look. _

"_Here I control space, time, everything." he said with the same emotionless tone._

_I stared up at him as he continued stabbing me and torturing me, trying to keep in the scream I wanted to let out. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream. Everything slowly began dissolving, and I heard_

_"She doesn't scream." _

_I opened my eyes slowly and looked to see nothing had changed. It looked as if no one had even moved; what had happened? Had Itachi been serious?_

"Don't underestimate them." I ordered, all the males turned their heads in my direction. "I've fought with one of them before, they're not some joke."

"Nani Sada-san?" Yoshi inquired, sounding confused.

I sighed softly and rubbed the back of my head, thinking about the memories I wished to keep locked in my head. I bit down on my lower lip before looking back up at them, saying

"When I was a thirteen year old Chunin, three members of Akatsuki infiltrated Konohagakure to capture the carrier of the Kyuubi. I was there, trying to hold them off until some help arrived and I battled against one of them."

"Who?" Kane questioned, sounding nosy as usual.

"Uchiha…Uchiha Itachi." I said with an emotionless tone, they all stopped in their tracks.

I looked back at them over my shoulder again, wondering what was running through their brains.

"You mean…_the _Uchiha Itachi." Yori asked, I nodded.

"Hai, the very same." I stated, playing with a few strands of my hair. "They're not weaklings guys, that's why I wanted you lot to help me. You're some of our strongest Onin."

"Ha ha, well I am pretty strong." Akira laughed, Kane snorted.

"Psht, whatever. I'd pown your ass." he said, sounding conceited as usual.

"What'd you say?" Akira exclaimed, raising a fist threateningly.

"Guys calm down." Yoshi whined, I giggled quietly.

"Okay, let's go bitch." Kane yelled, Yori groaned.

"Kami, this is annoying." he mumbled to himself, trying to ignore the arguing pair.

"Guys, please stop fighting." I asked of them, they both immediately shut up. "Arigato, now let's get moving. We have to get there soon."

"Lead the way, oh mighty Taichou." Kane teased, I wrinkled my nose slightly before doing as he asked.

We ran in silence for hours, finally making it out of the desert and into a more forest like area. I knew we weren't in Hi No Kuni but we were somewhat around the area, since the Akatsuki weren't going to Konoha there was no reason for us to go in that direction. I didn't know where to go from where we were and although I didn't want to take a break, I knew that it would be best for the team. I sat up in a tree branch, staring up towards the night sky as I swung my legs in the free air. If the Akatsuki members had walked the entire way, I knew they would've passed this way sometime during the night. I had no idea what direction they'd gone though, so I needed to figure it out.

I took a slow breath and closed my eyes, focusing on my jutsu. I slowly made some handsigns, knowing there was no real reason to rush them since my team hadn't been resting for even an hour, and focused on the darkness surrounding me. Night, it was the best time in my opinion. I had grown accustomed to the darkness, being from Kuraigakure had many advantages when it came to the darkness of the night. Right now, I was especially happy that I was formally from the village. I made the last handsign, focusing my thoughts harder than I originally had been. I could feel the darkness around me tug at my mind, searching through it for what I wanted to see before my head began moving with the darkness. The place the darkness was leading my brain, was through the route the Akatsuki had taken earlier in the night. Now, I would manage to see where they were heading…if they hadn't already made it there.

'Found it.'

The darkness had led my brain to a crystal blue river, there was a good sized rock mountain and a huge boulder of some sort infront of the entrance, the darkness had managed to pull me closer to see that it had a five barrier seal on it. I focused my thoughts, trying to manage the darkness to slip inside the mountain so I could see what was going on. Nothing, even my darkness couldn't get through. I grumbled softly and opened my eyes, my jutsu ending. I'd found the Akatsuki hideout, now I knew where they'd taken Gaara. And guess what Sunagakure, I'd done all that without _any _help from the shinobi of Konohagakure. Now, I _knew _that I would manage to rescue Gaara.

* * *

**Author's Note: And this would be the third chapter. Oooo, Sada's a bad girl, going against Baki's orders. Dontcha think? Pahahaha. Anyway, I would like to mention that I got four reviews for the last chapter, rather than the five I require. I feel that since you all have been waiting so long for this sequel, I'll go ahead and put this chapter out. Another note, the next chaper will NOT be put up unless there are six reviews for this one. Six you ask, well, allow me to explain. The sixth review will go towards the previous chapter that was lacking in one review. Also, since you guys wouldn't give me that number five I needed for the last chapter there won't be a review for the fourth chapter. Sorry, I know it's mean but I like knowing I'm doing a good job and those five reviews I require keep me motivated to keep writing. So if you like this story, let me know. Thanks :) **

**Lots of love**

**Eva**


	5. Chapter Four: Confrontation

**Chapter Four**

_Between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni; Sada and Onin Team_

"Alright, so what do we do now that we're here?" Akira inquired, I wrinkled my nose to myself in thought.

Yes, we had finally made it to our destination after a day worth of traveling. We could've gotten there much quicker but we'd needed to discuss a few things before we actually encountered the Akatsuki. A few of these things were our abilities, what types of jutsu we specialized in, our disadvantages, what types of fighters were a bad combination for us, etc. After a good amount of talking and such, we'd learned a good amount about each other's fighting style. Although we'd all talked before, we'd never actually gotten to know each other when it came to combat and such. We were all on different squads, I didn't really know the real reason why we all were associated with each other but we still were, weirdly enough. Now though, we had all the information we needed on each other and were ready to do battle. The downside to this though, was that we had no real idea what we were going to do. We had no way to get inside the mountain, the barrier was a five seal so there were obviously four more located somewhere in the surrounding area. We didn't know where they were though so we had no way to remove them, searching for them just seemed as though it would waste too much of our time that we could be spending fighting the Akatsuki. Knowing S-Ranked Criminals though, they more than likely had some sort of trap set up to waste even _more _of our time. What _could _we do?

"Sada-san?" Yori questioned, I snapped out of my daze at the sound of his voice but continued staring up at the five seal barrier.

"Well…I don't know." I admitted, staring at the seal intently. "This seal is a five barrier, therefore, there are four more located somewhere around here."

"And looking for them would be a crazy waste of time." Kane complained, I nodded in agreement.

"We can't get inside if we don't remove them though." Yoshi pointed out, again I nodded.

"Exactly and the Akatsuki have probably set up some kind of trap so that we can't get to the seals." I added, they all groaned in annoyance.

"This sure is aggravating." Kane grumbled, I bit the inside of my jaw in thought.

"What are we supposed to do, what if something happens to Kazekage-sama while we're off looking for them?" Akira asked, I lowered my head sadly.

'Gaara.'

"I…we've already failed." I said sadly, Yoshi placed a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"No, we just need a new strategy." he suggested, I kept my head bent low in thought.

There had to be something that we could do, some way that we could manage to get inside without breaking the five barrier seal. What if…my kekkei genkai would work? I looked up, feeling slightly nervous and slowly walked forward. They didn't even acknowledge that I'd walked away from them, they were too busy contemplating on what we could do to get inside. I moved away from the boulder to the actual mountain, stopping a couple of feet from it. I had no idea where I'd wind up if we went through this way, where inside the mountain I mean. If we _couldn't _get through this way, we'd just have to go find those damned seals, it was the only other option we had if my kekkei genkai failed us. I took a slow breath with closed eyes and placed my hand on the mountain, letting the oxygen slip back out through my parted lips. I focused my chakra, the slight amount I needed, and opened my eyes. I grinned when my hand slipped through, so we actually _would _manage to get in through this way. The next question was, what would we do once we managed to get inside? I phased my hand back out of the mountain, staring down at it blankly before saying

"Guys, I found a way through."

"Did you really?" Yori exclaimed, bolting towards me.

I nodded in agreement, they all surrounded me and stared at the mountain. They seemed slightly confused when they saw no entrance, as though they didn't understand what I was talking about. I hadn't explained my kekkei genkai to them during our conversation on the way here, I knew that I had to now. Hopefully, they wouldn't be afraid of it like all the people of Kuraigakure had been.

"Demo…there's no entrance." Yoshi stated, sounding confused.

"There isn't." I admitted. "I can make our own entrance."

"Demo…how?" Akira asked, sounding just as confused as Yoshi.

"Well…it's not so much making an entrance." I explained, lowering my head to the ground. "It's merely slipping through, inside the mountain."

"You can perform a jutsu like that?" Kane inquired, I nodded in agreement.

"Hai, I can." I stated. "It's an ability I've had since I was a child."

I took a breath and placed my hand back on the mountain to demonstrate my ability, my hand slipping through before I pulled it back out with ease. I heard the men gasp behind me in surprise, I didn't have to guess to know that they were surprised by my kekkei genkai's power, everyone that had ever seen it had been shocked. I looked back at them, _extremely _surprised when I saw Kane punch the air above his head. Wait…what was going through their heads? Were they not afraid of my kekkei genkai like everyone else had been?

"Fuckin sweet Sada, now we'll get inside for sure." he cheered.

"You're…not freaked out?" I questioned, Akira chuckled softly.

"Do we have a reason to be, this is the way we'll get inside to rescue Kazekage-sama." he pointed out, Yoshi nodded.

"If we didn't have you here Sada, there would be no way we'd manage to get inside." he added, Yori flashed me a peace sign in enthusiasm.

"Let's go and kick ass." he suggested, I grinned under my mask.

"Okay, our first and main priority is rescuing Kazekage-sama. If we can manage to escape without a battle, it'll be all the better for us. We'll need to move as quickly as we can, back to Sunagakure." I instructed. "If we have a battle-"

"You mean when." Kane interrupted, I rolled my eyes to myself in slight annoyance.

"Fine, _when _we have a battle with them, we need to make sure to protect Kazekage-sama at all costs." I continued, a serious expression on my face. "We can _not _allow him to be anymore injured than he already is, who knows what these Akatsuki people have done to him."

"Alright, so let's get moving." Yoshi suggested, I nodded in agreement and tried to ignore the tugging feeling in my stomach. "That ability can get us all inside, right?"

"Yeah, I'll push you guys through first." I stated, motioning them closer to the wall.

They all walked closer and stood right infront of the wall, I took a few steps back so I was slightly behind the four of them. I took a slow breath and focused my chakra, this was it. This was when I would have to face the Akatsuki for the second time in my life. What was _far _more terrifying though, was that I would also be facing Deidara. We'd be on opposite sides this time too, he on the side of evil while I was on the side of good. I didn't want to think about what would happen, but it made me feel so sad and lonely at the thought of losing him. I couldn't let the Akatsuki take my best friend away from me forever though, I _needed _him so I could keep on living my life. It would destroy me to lose him, just like I was slowly destroying myself by being separated from Deidara. I needed to be with him but I couldn't right now, I had to rescue one of the only people I had as a friend from the enemy. And that's exactly what I was going to do.

"Ready?" I inquired, placing both my hands lightly on Yoshi and Akira's backs.

"Hai." they both said in unison, nodding once.

I pushed them against the wall and they easily phased through it, I didn't have time to marvel at the accomplishment of not using too much chakra. I quickly placed my hands on Yori and Kane's backs, pushing them against the wall and watched them phase through just like the others had. I took a breath and ran towards the mountain, my body phased through and I was inside the mountain with the rest of my Onin team. I blinked dumbly, taking in my surroundings and a shocked expression came to my masked face. What…was that thing…that statue? It appeared to be a creature of some sort, a rather intimidating one at that. There were nine eyes, not all of them were completely opened and a couple of them had the actual iris of the eye and pupil. It was extremely disturbing looking to say the least. Both the statues hands were slightly extended outward, some green lights were shining from nine of the fingertips. I could also see that there were figures standing on the fingers of the statues, nine people. Seven of them looked like holograms though, I couldn't even make out the non-holographic people that were standing up there. I moved my gaze slightly away from the hands, almost gasping when I saw the most heart-wrenching scene. Gaara. Blue chakra was surrounding him, some red substance was being sucked out of him through his eyes and mouth, into the mouth of the statue. What…was going on here?

I glanced over at my team, knowing they were more than likely thinking along the same lines as I was. I hadn't expected to see something like this, something so terrifying and horrible. What was even worse though, was that I had no idea what we were going to do now. We'd made it inside, our plan completely ruined because of the new events taking place before our eyes. I blinked dumbly, not having any idea what to do, and turned my gaze back to Gaara. I couldn't pull my eyes away from him, my heart felt as though it was breaking in my chest. He was in so much pain and there was nothing I could do about it…

"You were followed." a cold voice said, I shuddered softly in fear.

That man's voice, it was so emotionless and stern. I'd never heard it before but I could tell by those three words he'd spoken, that he was the leader of the Akatsuki. I'd never heard such a cold sounding man before, even Uchiha Itachi didn't sound as cold as this man. I looked at my team and they nodded, we all took a few steps forward out of the shadows since we'd already been discovered.

"What the fuckin' hell?" another voice raged. "How'd those shits manage to get in?"

"The seal was not broken." another dark voice stated.

"How'd they get in then?" a more carefree voice inquired.

"You both did not cover your tracks well enough." the first voice said, not sounding very pleased that we'd managed to get inside.

"Brat." a low voice growled. "Your explosions are not meant for a stealth mission-"

"You didn't cover your tracks well either with those ostentatious traps of yours, hm." another voice barked, I felt my heart jump in my chest.

Deidara, it was _my _Deidara. I could feel my heart racing and my cheeks going warm at the thought of him, we were actually in the same room together. This was the second time in merely a few days that I had heard from him, I was feeling so complete now. I…I snapped my head in Gaara's direction when I heard another gagged yell come from him. No, I couldn't be focusing on how much I'd missed Deidara and how happy I was that we were together. My mission, was to rescue the Sunagakure no Kazekage. Deidara, no matter how much I wished he wasn't, was the enemy. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to fight with him. I just wanted to rescue Gaara and get the hell out of here, but how was my squad going to manage that with what was going on with that weird statue?

"Enough, focus on the jutsu." the leader ordered, interrupting the argument between Deidara and the other man. "Sasori, Deidara. Take care of our guests."

"Hai." both men said, jumping down from the hands.

They both landed some distance from us, I immediately recognized Deidara. The other man must've been Akasuna no Sasori, the puppet master that had severely injured Kankuro. He was an extremely short man, hunchbacked and fat. His skin was dark complexioned, his black hair was tied back in a hairstyle I hadn't seen before. His eyes were menacing, I could see the difference in our experience as shinobi just by looking in his eyes. He was also wearing the Akatsuki cloak like Deidara, what made me feel even more nervous was that I could see a scorpion tail moving around behind him. He wasn't exactly what I expected, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. Having the title of an S-Ranked Criminal, meant he had killed a good number of people and that he was an especially dangerous man. I would need to _definitely _watch myself during this battle.

"Brat, take the two on the left." Sasori ordered in a low voice.

'Akira and Yoshi…hopefully they'll be careful.'

"Hmph, fine with me." Deidara agreed, nodding once.

I glanced at the other two Onin out of the corner of my eye and they nodded to me, knowing exactly what I was thinking. I nodded once and they both rushed towards Sasori with me following closely behind them. Sasori glared threateningly at us as we approached him at rapid speed, he didn't look intimidated in the least. I could hear the fighting going on between Akira, Yoshi, and Deidara some distance behind me. I glanced at Kane, watching as he began making handsigns as he ran towards Sasori and I skid to a stop, making handsigns of my own with closed eyes. I completed the last handsign, focusing my chakra.

'Darkness style: Spheres of Darkness.'

I watched the black marble sized spheres form in midair, nearly invisible to the naked eye. I'd managed to perfect the jutsu to my advantage after years worth of training and while Sasori was too busy focused on Kane's jutsu, he would fail to recognize mine since he wouldn't manage to actually _see _it. Such a simple plan but simple worked at times, he would more than likely expect the most complicated jutsu and something simple would completely throw him off. I made another handsign, all the spheres began exploding in mid air. Both Kane and Yori had jumped back to stand next to me as the explosions went off, I grinned maniacally to myself. Explosions, I loved them so much. I did a back handspring when the scorpion tail lunged at the three of us, successfully dodging it, Kane wasn't so lucky though. I gasped when it pierced his chest, my eyes widening in shock…he was dead.

'No.'

I whipped my head around to Yori, he seemed just as shocked. I glared darkly at the puppeteer and began making handsigns, ignoring the explosions going on behind me. I turned my attention to Yori, saying

"Go help the others, I've got him."

"Demo-"

"Now." I ordered, he nodded and went to the men's aid.

I shut my eyes, knowing it _wasn't _the best idea, and completed the last handsign before opening my eyes.

'Darkness style: Dark Sh-'

The scorpion tail came right at me, at a rapid pace to make matters worse for me. I managed to dodge a fatal hit, the end of the scorpion tail actually wound up hitting me across the face. I flew across the cave, tumbling against the ground when I made impact. I pushed myself slightly up from the ground, my broken Onin mask falling off my face. I looked up through my blue violet hair at the puppeteer and darted towards him, knowing exactly what I had to do to defeat him. Distance attacks didn't seem to be working, I had to be within close range. No normal shinobi would be able to get close to him though, that scorpion tail of his was stopping anyone from getting within three yards of him. I was no normal shinobi though. I was a Kuraigakure shinobi with a kekkei genkai that no one else in the world had, Orochimaru had even told me so himself…I could _still _remember his exact words.

_I looked back towards Orochimaru and glared darkly at him, all the horrible memories of my past were flashing through my brain. All the torture that man had put me through, all the experiments, the pain, the loneliness. He'd almost completely broken me before I'd been rescued by Konohagakure, now it was my turn to repay them for the new life they'd offered me. That, and it was my time to get revenge on this shinobi. _

_'This is for what you did to me for years you bastard.' _

_I ran up behind him and jumped up, pulling a powerful roundabout kick straight into the back of his skull. He hadn't been expecting me so he flew across the roof and landed in a heap on the tiles, looking slightly crumpled and broken."Sada!" the Hokage shouted, sounding slightly worried. _

_I smiled slightly at him and bowed a little in his direction, making sure to have respect for my superior. I knew he was worried for my wellbeing, he was one of the few people that knew I'd been taken prisoner by Orochimaru. He must've thought I wouldn't be able to hold my own against the Sannin, but I knew that I would manage."Konnichiwa Hokage-sama." I greeted, nodding in acknowledgement to him."Child, you need to get out of here." he instructed, still sounding worried. _

_I shook my head and glared at Orochimaru when I saw he was slowly moving to his feet."I have a score to settle with him. Plus, it's my duty to protect you Hokage-sama." _

_He looked at me slightly confused, and I stood infront of him in a fighting stance. As I had told the Hokage, it was my duty to protect him. I wasn't going to allow this shinobi to approach the Hokage without defeating me first. Orochimaru looked back at me and smirked when he immediately recognized me."Sada, I never imagined I'd see you again." he slurred. _

_My glare deepened, and I growled quietly at him in anger."Stay the hell away, I'll kick your ass!" I warned. _

_He chuckled slightly, seeming amused with my threat, and licked his lips like the creep that he was._

_"Why don't you just come back to Otogakure with me? I can give you everything you seek." he said in a creepy voice…so disturbing."So you'll let me kill you?" I asked with an emotionless tone of voice. "I really doubt that.""Sada, Sada, Sada." he teased, shaking his head to himself. "You're special, you have a kekkei genkai no one else in the world has in their possession. I can help you to master it if you'd allow me to assist you.""I've already mastered it!" I shouted. "And I'll prove it by defeating you!" _

_I ran at him despite the Hokage's protests and Orochimaru smirked. _

Sasori narrowed his eyes when he saw that I was _literally _going straight towards him, the scorpion tail shooting out from behind him at me. I didn't bother dodging this time, instead, I allowed the tail to phase right through my body. Sasori's eyes widened slightly in confusion and I gathered darkness in my hand, aiming the punch straight for Sasori's face. In a way, it was sort of like gathering chakra in your hand but darkness had a different affect than chakra. If I managed to punch him in the head as planned, the darkness would slip off my hand at the contact and inside his brain, shutting down the most vital systems for body function. I called this jutsu, Black Mind Invasion. It was completely different than my Dark Mind Invasion, I was bad with making up names for my own jutsu though. My concentration slipped when a hand went around my wrist, stopping my attack. Sasori hadn't done anything, he was just standing there. Deidara was still fighting, so he couldn't have done anything. How then…? I glanced over, my eyes locked with a pair of orange ones. A woman, one of the holograms…how had she managed to grab my wrist if she was a mere hologram.

"Sasori-san." she said calmly. "Pein wants her alive, kill the others."

Wait…what was she saying? Who was Pein…he must've been the leader of the Akatsuki. But who was this woman…and how was she powerful enough to grab me when she was just a mere hologram? What was going on?

"Hai Konan-san." Sasori replied, his voice sounded like a growl.

I felt something hard roughly hit the back of my head and the hand around my wrist retreated, I could see the world getting dizzier. My vision was blurring and the few lights coming from the fingertips of the statue were getting dim, all the noise in the room was slowly but surely, fading away. I could feel my body falling backwards through the air before an arm moved around me, keeping me from hitting the ground. The last thing I remembered seeing before I passed out, was a bright blue eye staring down into my red ones.

'Deidara…?'

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update...my bad kiddies**


	6. Chapter Five: Hostage Situation

Chapter Five

_The River Country; Sada and Akatsuki Members_

I could slowly feel myself being pulled back into the conscious world, the sounds of arguing voices filled my ears. Both voices were male, sounding rather young. I slowly forced my eyes to open, my red orbs were met with a dark sky. What was going on? How was it already night, how much time had passed since my mission? Wait…what about my team? What had happened during that battle against the Akatsuki? I quickly sat up and pushed my blue violet hair away from my face, looking around the area. The cave was gone, the other Onin were nowhere to be found. I was in a forest of some sort, I could hear the sounds of water not far from where I was. I swallowed nervously, looking around the area blankly, so many questions were running through my brain. The main thing I was wondering…scratch that. I'd completely forgotten about those voices that had woken me up, shit.

I snapped my head around when I heard

"Oi, Sasori no danna, she's awake."

'Deidara?'

I felt a small smile tug at my lips at the sight of him and he grinned cheekily at me, taking a few steps towards me. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks at the smirk on his face, the way he was looking at me was making me feel so lightheaded. His grin widened and he stopped a short distance away from me, leaning his back against a tree. I felt my cheeks burn hotter, blinking curiously when I saw another man walk up next to him. His hair was a bright red color, it looked extremely messy and tousled, his bangs were hanging slightly infront of his eyes. His eyes were lazy looking and grey, his skin tone was ivory. He looked young as well, close to my age. He was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, so he was also an Akatsuki member, but where was that hunchbacked man? The red head tilted his head to the side a bit, looking over my appearance. I shrunk back slightly, feeling extremely nervous.

"You're…Akatsuki." I stated with a soft tone, a smirk came to the red head's lips.

"That's right, little girl." the red head said, sounding teasing.

I felt anger bubble up inside me at his tone of voice and jumped to my feet, glaring darkly at him.

"Where's Kazekage-sama, what have you done to him?" I asked angrily, his smirk widened slightly.

"He's dead." he taunted, I felt my heart break at the words.

Dead…Gaara was…dead. Those bastards, they'd killed him…they'd killed my best friend. How could they be so heartless, how could they have done something so evil without having the slightest amount of remorse…why? I glanced at Deidara to see the guilt in his visible eye, he looked as though his heart was breaking to see me this upset. I knew Deidara didn't like to see me hurting, he never had throughout all the years of us being together. The guilt in his eye, back so many years ago, I'd never understood why he'd looked guilty when I'd told him what I had.

_I looked up at Deidara, smiling sheepishly at him._

"_Nani love?" he asked curiously, I pouted a little._

"_I ruined our tea date." I whispered. _

_He chuckled softly in amusement and lightly kissed my forehead, my cheeks were burning from the kiss._

"_As long as you're better, that's all that matters hm." he whispered, pulling me into a hug. _

_I snuggled into his embrace, happy that he hadn't thought anything seemed suspicious about Gaara and his siblings. _

"_Who were those kids though?" he inquired, I giggled to myself and said_

"_They're from Sunagakure, they're in the Chunin Exams with me. We're…friends." I hesitated._

_Deidara looked at me, not looking like he was buying the whole "friends" thing. _

"_Well, the red head is, Gaara. The other two…they're just getting used to me." I explained. _

_He nodded, I couldn't tell what emotion was in his eye. It wasn't jealously, it was something else…guilt maybe? Why would he feel guilty about this, how could he feel guilty that Gaara was my friend? I didn't understand it, I didn't have a clue what thoughts were running through his head. I was curious as to what he was thinking, the guilt he looked like he was feeling, just made me feel all the more confused._

"_Uh huh…do you still want to go get tea hm?" he asked, changing the subject. _

_I nodded in agreement and smiled sweetly at him when he took my hand in his gloved one, lacing his fingers through mine as he led me towards the tea shop._

I understood now though, he'd known that he would have to eventually kill Gaara. When I'd told him that we were friends, the guilt had rushed at him. We were in love and he didn't want to hurt me, but he'd known that he eventually would wind up hurting me. Now I understood, I understood why he'd never seemed keen when it came to talking about Gaara. He hadn't wanted to because the closer I'd become to Gaara, the more Deidara knew that his death would hurt me. And after years worth of being friends with Gaara, this hurt me more than words could ever describe. I felt a ragged breath leave my lungs, my heart breaking at the thought of my best friend no longer being alive. I looked up from the ground, glaring threateningly at the red head.

"You…you bastard!" I screamed at the red head, I could see Deidara's eye sadden at the sight of me being so upset. "How-how could you? I'll kill you for this!"

I went to make some handsigns and stopped, I couldn't feel my chakra. What was going on here? I looked down towards my hands, my eyes widened when I saw a metal bracelet of some sort locked around my right wrist. What the hell was this thing? I blinked, trying to tug it off…nothing. Was this…what was stopping me from molding my chakra?

"What the hell is this thing?" I raged, the red head took a few steps closer to me.

"Our leader invented it, it stops whomever has it on from molding any of their chakra." he explained, I felt my eyes widen in shock. "Leader-sama makes use of it on our newest additions to the organization, to make sure they won't betray us if they were unwilling to join at first. Even my incompetent partner over here had one for quite some time."

"Shut the fuck up hm." Deidara barked, not sounding very amused.

I took a step backwards, my spine bumping against the tree behind me and the red head stopped a few inches away from me, the same lazy expression in his eyes.

"You have no escape." he told me, I could still hear that teasing tone in his voice. "You'll come with us willingly or we'll drag you to our headquarters. It's your choice, little girl."

I felt my eyes widen in shock, their headquarters? What was this guy talking about? Why did he want to take me with him…wait a second. I vaguely remembered…there it was.

_My concentration slipped when a hand went around my wrist, stopping my attack. Sasori hadn't done anything, he was just standing there. Deidara was still fighting, so he couldn't have done anything. How then…? I glanced over, my eyes locked with a pair of orange ones. A woman, one of the holograms…how had she managed to grab my wrist if she was a mere hologram._

"_Sasori-san." she said calmly. "Pein wants her alive, kill the others."_

_Wait…what was she saying? Who was Pein…he must've been the leader of the Akatsuki. But who was this woman…and how was she powerful enough to grab me as a hologram? What was going on?_

"_Hai Konan-san." Sasori replied, his voice sounded like a growl. _

"Nani…do you want from me?" I breathed, feeling utterly terrified.

The red head sighed lazily and ran a hand through his red hair, messing it up even more than it already was.

"Our leader is interested in your abilities, he has ordered that we bring you back to Amegakure with us." he said, sounding extremely bored. "He has also ordered that we are not to harm you, unless you resist. So what'll it be, little girl?"

I felt my breath catch in my throat, losing complete use of my vocal chords. This man, he was exactly like the hunchbacked man. His eyes showed me the number of people he'd killed without any remorse and the amount of experience he had as a shinobi, I could never manage match him in a battle even though we were around the same age. His eyes were so cold, calculating, emotionless…and terrifying. I could hear a soft whimper come from my throat and heard

"Sasori no danna."

I glanced over to see Deidara had come over to the man called "Sasori." I didn't understand how it was possible, was this the exact same man I had fought earlier? How though…wait a second. If Akasuna no Sasori was a puppet master, then what I was fighting earlier must've been one of his puppets. How had he managed to keep himself hidden though and still manage to control the puppet? Another question running through my head, how could he be Akasuna no Sasori if he was this young? From what Kankuro had told me, he'd deserted Sunagakure twenty years ago. There was no way he could be this young, so how did he have this youthful appearance?

"Nani Deidara?" he questioned, Deidara glanced at me before moving his gaze back to the red head.

"You're scaring her hm. Let me try talking to her." he asked of him, Sasori rolled his eyes at the request.

"That's the point brat. If she's terrified enough, she won't be willing to refuse-" Sasori started.

"Just let me try hm." the blonde interrupted, Sasori glared darkly at him.

"You have five minutes brat." Sasori spat. "If you don't manage to convince her by then, we'll knock her unconscious and drag her back to Amegakure."

Deidara scoffed in displeasure, watching Sasori walk away before turning his gaze to me. I slumped against the tree and slid down the trunk, plopping on the ground. I could feel tears brimming at the corner of my eyes, Gaara was gone. I pulled my knees to my chest and the tears rolled down my cheeks, I placed my forehead against my knees so Deidara wouldn't see me crying. I cried harder, coughing and hacking, trying to catch my breath and looked up when I felt a hand stroke the top of my head. My red eyes locked with Deidara's bright blue one, my crying had ceased. I swallowed and Deidara stroked the top of my head gently, saying softly

"Sada-chan, why'd you have to come here hm?"

"I-I couldn't leave him." I whispered, he looked heartbroken by my words.

"Gomenasai." he apologized, I nodded a little.

"Arigato." I said quietly, smiling a little when his hand moved to my face to wipe away my tears.

"I…don't wanna do this hm. I tried so hard to keep you safe from Akatsuki and now…I failed hm." he mumbled, looking upset with himself.

"Dei." I murmured, he looked up into my eyes. "I…it's not your fault. I wanted to be here…I had to try to rescue Gaara, I was the one that failed…not you."

"Sada." he said gently, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "You didn't fail, you tried to protect one of your friends, that's not something a failure would do hm."

"Arigato." I said quietly, smiling slightly.

He smiled as well and removed his hand from my cheek, knowing Sasori would more than likely be back any minute.

"I'll take care of you hm." he promised, I felt tears begin rolling down my cheeks again. "No one will hurt you while I'm around, no one will manage to even touch you hm."

"Arigato." I whispered, he smiled a little at me and moved to his feet.

I could see that his left arm was still missing, perhaps he would manage to have it reattached when we went to Amegakure. One of the members _had _to have some medical skills, at least enough to stitch an arm back on someone's body. I hoped so, I didn't want him to go around with one arm the rest of his life. I blinked and tried to force myself to move to my feet, I had no such luck. I was so utterly heartbroken over Gaara, that I didn't think I would manage to force myself to move. I lowered my head, glancing up when I heard Deidara sigh softly.

"Love, come on." he asked of me, I lowered my eyes to the ground.

"I…can't." I said softly, tears rolling down my cheeks again.

"Sada, I-"

"Well Deidara, have you managed to convince her or not?" Sasori interrupted, walking back over to us.

I glanced up through my blue violet bangs at the both of them, watching Deidara nod once in agreement. Sasori looked slightly pleased that they wouldn't have to drag me to Amegakure unconscious. I could feel more tears rolling down my cheeks, streaking my face with tears and I kept my knees hugged to my chest, trying to keep myself from completely falling apart. Why did they have to kill him, the only person that I'd been able to call my best friend? Why did all this have to be happening? What did the Akatsuki want from me? I coughed quietly in the attempt to hold in my tears and continued staring at the ground, wiping at my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt.

"Girl."

I looked up at Sasori, my face still stained with tears and watched a smirk slowly come to his lips when he saw that I was crying.

"Let's go and don't make an attempt to escape, you won't get far." he ordered, I resisted the urge to growl at him. "Deidara, since it's nightfall we'll manage to use one of your birds without the chance of being noticed. Make one."

"Hai Sasori no danna." Deidara grumbled, not sounding happy that he was being bossed around.

I looked away from Sasori, watching Deidara stick his hand in the pouch on the side before pulling it out after a minute. He stared at his hand as the mouth chewed at the clay, I watched him with a fascinated look. I'd never actually seen the way Deidara made his sculptures, he'd always made them before I had time to notice. This time though, I was actually able to watch him and I was fascinated by the process. I watched as the clay popped out from the mouth on his hand and watched his hand close around the clay as he began sculpting a bird for travel. I felt a small smile tug at my lips when he tossed the bird to the ground, making a handsign. A puff of smoke appeared around the small bird before a much larger one took its place. I felt my jaw drop in awe, it was so beautiful, so detailed, the creases and design…Deidara truly was an artist.

"Beautiful." I whispered absentmindedly, marveling at his creation.

I looked at Sasori when I heard a 'tch' noise come from him, his eyes had narrowed at the sculpture. He didn't look impressed in the least by Deidara's sculpture, how could he not be impressed, it was perfect.

"Let's go." he instructed, Deidara rolled his eye at the command.

He turned his blue eye in my direction and took a few steps towards me, offering his hand to me. I reached towards him and placed my hand on his, managing to force myself on my feet with Deidara's help. He smiled slightly at me and led me by the hand towards the bird, we hopped on the back of the bird some distance from Sasori.

"Deidara, if she falls off it will be your head." Sasori warned, Deidara scoffed in annoyance. "She cannot mold chakra, keep a tight grip on her."

"Hai danna." he complained, raising his hand into a handsign. "Hold on to me hm." he whispered next to my ear.

I nodded in agreement and scooted slightly closer to him, wrapping both my arms around his torso. He grinned at me since Sasori wasn't looking and the bird moved its wings, pushing us upward into the air. The bird gracefully flew through the air, the wind was howling all around us and blowing my hair in all sorts of different directions. Flying was scarier than I last remembered, I hadn't been flying with Deidara in a good while, months upon months actually. I felt a small smile come to my lips when his arm moved around my shoulders, I snuggled closer to him for warmth. All this was major déjà vu to me, all sorts of memories of us flying together were flashing through my head. The main one that stood out though, was the very first time he'd taken me flying. Back before I knew he was an S-Ranked Criminal, back before we didn't know a thing about each other's kekkei genkai's, back when everything seemed so simple. It was times like these, that I wished things could be that simple again.

_"It's beautiful Deidara. This is the most amazing thing I've seen in my entire life." I stated, smiling back at him. _

_He grinned mischievously, and I looked at him slightly confused. He had that look on his face again, the look that told me that he knew something I didn't know. What else did he have planned, what other secret was he hiding from me? _

_"Nani?" I asked curiously, tilting my head to the side._

_"You haven't even seen the best part hm." Deidara said, chuckling quietly. _

_I was even more confused, wasn't this the best part? What was he talking about?"What do you mean?" I inquired, pursing my lips in confusion. _

_Deidara walked passed me, still grinning to himself in amusement, and hopped onto the clay bird. He turned back at me and extended his hand to me, I was feeling so extremely confused with what was going on."Come on." _

_I looked at his hand hesitantly and finally looked up at his face, staring straight into those mischievous blue eyes of his."What are you doing?" I asked curiously._

_"You'll see hm." he said with a smirk. _

_Again, I looked at him confused. What else was he planning, what else could he be planning? All this made no sense to me. _

_"Trust me." he asked of me._

_I looked up at his face and finally took his hand. He pulled me up onto the bird with him and we sat down together, still holding tightly onto each other's hands."Okay, now what's going on?" I questioned._

_He grinned again and pulled me into his arms, lightly rubbing my arm with his thumb._

_"Deidara-kun, what are you planning?" I asked quietly. _

_He chuckled quietly to himself at my question and pulled back slightly to look at my confused face."Close your eyes hm." he said softly."Nande?" I asked."You'll see." he promised, giving me the most sincere look I'd ever seen._

_I nodded, trusting him more than I'd ever trusted any one else in the world, and slowly closed my eyes as instructed. I snuggled close to Deidara, and he rubbed his cheek against the top of my head. _

_"No peaking hm." he teased._

_I giggled, the way he said that was just so cute. I nodded in agreement, promising not to look until he said I could. He chuckled again and after a few seconds of silence, he said _

_"Open your eyes." _

_I opened my eyes and looked over at Deidara, wondering why he'd wanted me to close my eyes to begin with."What was that about exactly?" I asked curiously. _

_He chuckled, seeming slightly amused with my question and said"Look down at the ground Sada-chan." _

_I looked at him with a confused expression and finally looked over the edge of the bird...we were floating? "What'd you do? What's going on?" I asked curiously. _

_Deidara chuckled again and held up his hand into a handsign. He closed his eyes and everything was still for a moment until..._

_WHOOSH_

_Flying...we were...flying? How was that even humanly possible? There was no way that we could be flying right now? Was there? People stayed on the ground, birds were in the sky…huh? How were we flying? I looked around and shook my head to myself, seeing that the clouds were closer than they were seconds ago. We really were flying, this was so amazing and beautiful. I looked over at Deidara, and he smiled."Like it hm?" he asked. _

_I nodded in agreement and looked around again; I really wasn't dreaming. We were actually flying together._

I smiled slightly at the distant memory and looked at Deidara, he more than likely was thinking along the same lines as I was. He smiled slightly at me and rubbed my back comfortingly, I could see that his eye was apologizing for the hurt he was putting me through. I nodded once, trying to let him know that I forgave him, and he gave me a confused look. I licked my lips in thought and mouthed 'I love you' to him. I watched his lips stretch into one of his heartwarming smiles and he mouthed 'I love you too' at me. I sighed softly and leaned against him, trying to relax. Today was horrible, so much more horrible than I ever thought it would be. Maybe Baki had been right, maybe I should've waited in the village for Konohagakure to come to our aid. Maybe if I had, Gaara would be alive rather than dead right now. It was all my fault, all of this was my fault. If I had only listened to my head rather than to my heart, none of this would be happening. Gaara would be alive, Kankuro would be healed from that poison, and I wouldn't be captured by Akatsuki. But…I also wouldn't be with Deidara…I guess a plus can come from all sorts of downsides, right?

I glanced up through my bangs, smiling when Deidara kissed my forehead. Yeah, I wouldn't give up this plus for anything in the world.

* * *

**Author's Note: And there we go, Sada's officially a prisoner of the Akatsuki and now she's being dragged to Amegakure. The poor dear, she must be terrified...but at least she's with her Dei-chan. Ah, Dei-chan. I love him so much, he's so fun to write. Review pleasies!**

**Lots of love**

**Eva 3**


	7. Chapter Six: Amegakure

Chapter Six

_Amegakure; Sada, Deidara, and Sasori_

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking tiredly. I glanced up through my bangs, my red eyes meeting the blue one of Deidara. He chuckled softly and kissed my forehead lovingly, rubbing my back.

"Ohayou love." he greeted, I felt a smile come to my lips.

"Ohayou." I whispered, pushing myself to sit up.

I pushed my hair away from my face and looked around the area we were in, I didn't really recognize it so I guessed that it must've been somewhere in Amegakure. We were gliding through the air, not moving at a very fast pace. I looked towards the front of the bird, Sasori looked as though he was still sleeping. That was all the better for Deidara and myself, now we would manage to have some time to ourselves. I hadn't been able to talk to him one on one for a long while, all our conversations had been were short little things, mainly concerning how much we missed each other and whatnot. Now though, I would be able to talk to him every day. My heart was skipping at the thought of getting to see him every day of the week, for as long as I wanted even. I wouldn't only have a few hours with him or a few minutes, I could spend the whole day with him if I wanted. I felt a small smile tug at my lips at the thought, my smile widening when Deidara's hand cupped my cheek. I stared deeply into his eye, my breath felt caught in my throat as he stared back into my eyes.

"Dei?" I whispered, I watched a small smile come to his lips.

"Sada, gomenasai. I didn't mean for you get dragged into this life hm." he apologized, I nodded sadly.

"As long as I can be with you, I'll manage to survive." I whispered, he chuckled quietly and lightly pressed his lips against my forehead.

I blushed a light shade of pink at the contact, looking up at him through my lashes. He smiled softly at me, stroking my cheek with his thumb. I leaned my cheek into his touch, happy to have him here with me. What was ruining my happiness though, were the two thoughts swimming through my head. Gaara, he was dead…and I'd never see him again. I wouldn't even manage to avenge him, not since the Akatsuki were stronger than me by a good amount. I couldn't even avenge the person that I'd called my best friend, I was a pathetic excuse for a shinobi. The other thought, was of that night. I remembered it so clearly, even though I didn't want to. The night that I'd lost the only other best friend I had in the world, the night I realized that he was going towards darkness and evil, the night I'd realized it was up to me to save him.

_"Orochimaru-sama also wished for us to speak with you." Sakon told me with a smirk. _

_I narrowed my eyes angrily, not liking that Orochimaru was still trying to get me to join him. I wanted nothing to do with the bastard, he'd tortured me for years of my life and there was no possible way I was going back to him willingly. Nothing would ever make me go back to Orochimaru, unless it was to kill him. _

_"He wants you to come back with us as well." he finished."Tell Orochimaru he can go fuck himself." I hissed."We were positive you would accept." Kidoumaru said with a chuckle."And why is that?" I spat, clenching one of my fists in the attempt to keep all my anger deep within me."Because your precious Uchiha Sasuke is coming with us." Tayuya laughed. _

_My heart seemed to stop in my chest, my head went blank, I didn't even think I could breathe properly. No, there was no way that she was telling the truth. I wouldn't ever doubt Sasuke, I knew he would never go to someone like Orochimaru to gain power. It wasn't the way he was, Sasuke may have acted cold and emotionless but on the inside, he was gentle and kind."You're lying!" I shouted, shaking my head. "Sasuke would never...he wouldn't betray the village like that.""Why don't you ask him yourself?" Jiroubou suggested, shrugging nonchalantly to himself. _

_I looked behind me and blinked dumbly, staring right into Sasuke's onyx eyes, he really had come. There was no way he was going with them, he'd just come to kick their asses out of our village just like I had…right?"What are you doing here?" he asked, he didn't sound pleased in the least. _

_I stared at him and searched his eyes, trying to find the truth. I was hoping, praying, that he really wasn't planning on doing this. My eyes widened in shock, he really had come to abandon the village. Why would he do this to me, why would he leave me like this…he hadn't even planned to say goodbye."Nande Sasuke-kun?" I asked quietly. "Why would you do this?" _

_"I need power to defeat Itachi." he replied in a monotone, avoiding eye contact with me."This isn't the way to get it, this isn't the right way to gain power Sasuke." I said softly, almost stuttering over my own words. "If you stay here…please don't go.""I have to." he said coldly, still avoiding my eyes. "This is the only way.""No, it's not." I argued. "Please don't go...stay here." _

_He finally looked up and his onyx eyes met my red ones, he lightly touched my cheek."I would've stayed here with you forever." Sasuke admitted, sounding sad. "Demo…I can't.""Nande?" I asked, feeling hysterical. "Nande-""Because I can't have you." he shouted, interrupting me. "I love you Sada...but you don't love me.""Of course I love you." I told him, feeling extremely confused. "You're my best friend.""Is that all I can ever be?" he yelled angrily, moving his hand away from my face. "A friend? Why can't I be more to you?" _

_I looked down, feeling ashamed that I'd never seen the way he looked at me and held my arms to my chest. I hated how much I'd just hurt him, why hadn't I been able to see it? How was I blind to my best friend's feelings?"Please...don't leave me." I pleaded. _

_He looked back over his shoulder at me and even though his eyes held hatred, I could still tell that he cared about me. _

_"I didn't know...I-"_

_"Don't even try that." he interrupted, sounding more cold than I'd ever heard him sound. "I know about him." _

_My head shot up in surprise and he smirked to himself, more than likely knowing he'd just pushed me into a corner. I felt tears begin rolling down my cheeks and looked down at the ground when he continued._

_"That blonde that came with my brother and the blue man, you love him. Just by the way you were looking at him, I could tell. Naruto told me about the boyfriend you had when I was away training, and I knew instantly that it was him. Deidara wasn't it?""Sasuke...I don't care what you say, you can't leave." I stated, looking up through my bangs at him. "I won't let you, I'll fight you if I have to." _

_His eyes softened for a moment at my words, he didn't look like he liked the idea of fighting against me. I didn't care though, if that was the only way to keep him in the village, then so be it._

_"I don't want to fight you." Sasuke said in a monotone."I don't care what you want, I'll fight you if you even try to leave this village." I said, still crying. "If I have to...I will." _

_Sasuke stood there, motionless for a minute, he was more than likely stunned by my words. After a few long seconds worth of staring at each other, he finally walked back over to me. I stood there, crying softly to myself and he took my face in his hands, wiping my tears away with his thumb. _

_"Please…don't go." I begged."Do you love me?" he asked so only I could hear. _

_My voice was caught in my throat, I couldn't get myself to speak. I loved him as a friend, and nothing more. If I just said yes then he wouldn't leave, but I couldn't make myself lie to him. He was referring to the way I felt towards Deidara...I couldn't lie to him...I just couldn't. I shook my head and could see sadness fill his eyes. Yet...even though I had said that...he kissed me. I could feel my head go blank when his lips collided with mine, how could I have been so blind to my feelings? I…I did love Sasuke…and what made it worse was it was the exact same way I felt towards Deidara. I didn't think I'd ever manage to love someone as much as I loved Deidara, but I did. I knew I loved Deidara more than I loved Sasuke…but I still loved him. This wasn't good, how could this have happened without my noticing? How had I managed to fall in love with two people? He pulled out of the kiss and whispered _

_"I'll wait for you." _

I shook my head of the memory, almost crying to myself. That was the day I'd lost Sasuke, the day that I'd realized that I was the only person that could bring him back to Konohagakure. Sure Naruto had sworn to bring Sasuke back, but I knew there was no way that Naruto would be able to convince Sasuke. I was the closest person to Sasuke, the only person that was able to save him. Maybe with being in the Akatsuki, I'd manage to gain information about Orochimaru's whereabouts and such. Then, I'd be even closer to Sasuke. I'd be closer to bringing Sasuke back to Konohagakure, I'd be closer to rescuing him from his awful fate. I lowered my head, sighing softly to myself.

'Sasuke.'

I looked up when I felt fingers run through my hair, my eyes meeting Deidara's. He smiled at me, trying to assure me that everything was going to be alright. He didn't know what I was thinking about, I knew he didn't have the slightest clue, but it still felt incredibly good to have someone that was ready to support me no matter what.

"Deidara." I whispered, he cocked his head to the side a bit. "I love you."

His smile widened and he pressed his lips against mine, gently kissing me.

"I love you too hm." he told me, moving his lips against mine.

I smiled into the kiss and slipped one of my arms around his neck, my other hand cupping his cheek. His arm went around my body, holding me close to him as though he never wanted to let me go. I didn't want him too either, I wanted him to hold me forever and never let me go. I loved Deidara more than anything in the world, I knew he was one of the only people in the world that understood and cared for me. He…and Sasuke. I felt him pull out of the kiss and placed my head against his shoulder, forcing myself to hold in all the negative emotions. I couldn't cry again, it just felt like I couldn't make myself, as though all my tears had just dried up. I sighed quietly to myself and Deidara kissed the top of my head, saying softly

"We've made it to Amegakure, I have to wake Sasori no danna up now hm."

"Okay." I whispered sullenly, keeping my arms tightly wrapped around him. "Just…don't let me go."

"I'll never let you go love." he promised, kissing my forehead.

I felt him shift slightly and nuzzled my face against his shoulder, trying to calm myself down. Now that we'd made it into Amegakure, I'd have to meet their leader when we entered their headquarters. It greatly terrified me, the thought of meeting the leader of a criminal organization, not to mention they were all _S-Ranked _Criminals. They were extremely powerful and if this man was in charge of a group made up of the most dangerous criminals in the world, he had to be far more powerful than they to control all of them. I felt him softly stroke my hair once before moving his hand to my left shoulder, saying loudly

"Sasori no danna, we're in Amegakure hm."

A low groan came from Sasori, I would've giggled had I not been their hostage. I moved part of my face out of Deidara's cloak and glanced over my shoulder at the red head, watching him lazily run a hand through his disheveled hair after he'd sat up. He looked over at the two of us, a small smirk crept onto his face.

"You two seem to be getting along rather well." he mused, sounding teasing.

I felt my cheeks go warm and moved my face back into Deidara's cloak, blushing darkly in embarrassment. I heard Deidara mumble something under his breath at Sasori's remark, it sounded something like "mind your own business." I completely agreed with it too, it wasn't any of Sasori's business why we were getting along so well.

"What was that Deidara?" Sasori taunted, I heard Deidara groan in annoyance.

"Well, I'm the one that had to keep her ass seated here hm. While you were sleeping, she tried to jump off the fucking bird hm." he lied, I heard Sasori growl softly in annoyance.

Well, it was a good excuse to use as his reason for holding onto me like he was but now, I was the one that was going to get into trouble. This sure was dandy on so many different levels, I was practically giddy with excitement…not. I moved my head, looking at Sasori over my shoulder and watched his grey eyes narrow at me. Yeah, I was fucked.

"I thought I told you that you weren't to try anything." he growled, I narrowed my eyes darkly at him.

"I never said I would cooperate with you people." I retorted, glaring at the puppet master. "I'd rather die than work for your organization, you murdered my Kazekage."

"Tch." Sasori grumbled, not sounding very amused. "Listen little girl, the decision to drag you along was not ours. If I would've had my way, I would've knocked you unconscious and transformed your body into a puppet."

I felt myself shrink back into the safety of Deidara's cloak at his words, he'd turn me into a puppet? What the hell was this guy? I could feel Deidara's arm tighten around my shoulders at Sasori's words, I knew he was _extremely _pissed off by the threat. Although I had no clue what the red head was talking about, I had a feeling Deidara did. He knew Sasori far better than I, so he must've known _exactly _what he was talking about.

"You would've made a very beautiful puppet." Sasori continued, not seeming as though he noticed Deidara's anger. "Especially with that unique ability you posses, phasing through solid objects. I've never heard of such a technique, it would've been quite the valuable one to add to my collection."

"N-nani." I whispered, feeling slightly shocked.

"It seems as though our leader has found your ability fascinating though, therefore, we're not aloud to harm you under his orders. You're lucky, little girl." Sasori said, paying no mind to my shocked state.

I felt Deidara pull me slightly closer to him as the bird inclined downward, I tightened my grip around his torso as the bird spiraled down before making a swift landing. Sasori scoffed quietly to himself and hopped off the bird, seeming as though he enjoyed being back on solid ground. Deidara pulled me to my feet, trying to appear as though he was forcing me and we hopped off the bird together. The bird disappeared in a puff of smoke and I looked around the area, feeling slightly fascinated. I'd never been inside Amegakure before, it was much different than I'd ever imagined. The many buildings stood at towering stories, looking as though they were miles high. The design of the village was quite different than what I was used to, I'd never laid eyes on a place like this in my whole life. I blinked curiously when a light rain began falling from the heavens, looking up towards the sky. The clouds hadn't looked like they were going to produce rain, so I didn't understand why it had started raining. Sasori began walking off in some direction, Deidara and I followed behind him slowly.

The blonde didn't say anything to me as we walked together, more than likely not wanting Sasori to hear our conversation. He seemed to be very wary of the red head's presence, I supposed it was all the better for our relationship. We couldn't let anyone find out about it, I knew it would be especially difficult now that we would be living together in the Akatsuki headquarters. I had a feeling I would be watched at all times by someone since I was a prisoner, Sasori would more than likely mention my reluctance to serve them to their leader. My life was going to be so much more difficult. I blinked, wondering when we'd began walking in a building, feeling extremely confused. I wasn't paying too much attention to my surroundings again, just great.

Deidara and I followed Sasori down the hallway of the building silently, we went around a corner after a few seconds worth of walking. We walked a little further down the hallway until the red head stopped infront of a door, lightly knocking on it when Deidara and I stopped some distance close to him.

"Come in Sasori, Deidara." a cold voice instructed, I felt my body shiver at the words.

It was exactly the same voice from the cave, the cold and emotionless voice. I could feel my body shaking slightly in terror, Deidara lightly rubbed my shoulder to calm me as Sasori opened the door. We followed Sasori inside the room, the door shut on its own accord once we'd made it inside. I stared at the man sitting behind the desk, he was completely covered by the shadows. I couldn't make out his appearance at all, all I could really tell was that he had spiky hair and the coldest eyes I'd ever seen. I watched Sasori and Deidara give a small bow towards the leader, I swallowed nervously, I'd never seen a man so intimidating. Once the pair had moved out of their bows, the Akatsuki leader said

"Konnichiwa little girl, welcome to Akatsuki."

I shivered again, my words caught in my throat. I could feel the heavy air around me, it felt as though it was crushing me. It was so hard to breathe, it didn't feel as though any oxygen was managing to get to my lungs. This man's chakra, it was so powerful and had such a cold aura to it, it felt as though I was drowning in it. I swallowed again, trying to get the lump out of the throat, with no such success.

"Do you know why you've been brought here?" the man questioned, I nodded a little.

I heard a quiet chuckle come from the man, a dark laugh. He seemed to be entertained by the fact that I was terrified out of my wits, it showed how cold of a man he truly was. I stared at him, waiting for him to say something else.

"Your name?" he inquired, I shivered again. "Don't make me ask you again, little girl."

"S-Sada." I choked, trying to hide the fear that was running through my veins.

"Village?" he continued, I bit my lower lip.

Even if I _did _lie, I knew he would manage to see through it. He was that calculating and observant of a person, I guessed he could even tell the difference in the pitch of someone's voice when they were lying. No matter how bad of an idea it was, I knew I had to tell him my home village. If I didn't, things might've been much worse for me.

"K-Kuraigakure." I said quietly, I felt Deidara shift next to me.

I knew that he was worried what would happen now, not many people knew where I was originally from. Only a good handful of people, barely anyone knew of my home village. I had a feeling though, a strong feeling, that this man would know exactly where I was talking about.

"Kuraigakure." he repeated, I nodded a little. "How very interesting, I've never had the privilege of meeting a shinobi of Kuraigakure. If I'm correct in my assumption, your techniques are darkness style."

"Hai." I mumbled, hating the situation I'd gotten myself into.

We stood there for a few minutes, their leader didn't say anything as the minutes ticked by. He seemed deep in thought, thinking over the few things I'd told him about myself more than likely. Sasori was giving me an interested look, I guessed he knew of my village as well. I stood there silently, trying to force more air into my lungs and the man finally said

"I find your abilities to be fascinating, they will come of great use to our organization. You will join us willingly, do you understand?"

"No." I said, forcing my voice to be louder. "I won't join you."

Their leader chuckled softly to himself, seeming amused with my defiance. I knew Deidara was worried, I didn't have to look at him to know. I could just feel his aura and I could feel how terrified he was for me. I wouldn't do this though, even though I wanted to be with Deidara and find more out about Orochimaru, I couldn't let myself betray those that I cared about. Temari and Kankuro, I wouldn't betray Sunagakure just to save my own skin. I should've been thinking about Konohagakure rather than Sunagakure, since they'd been the ones to rescue me from Orochimaru about three years ago but I wasn't. They'd shunned me, Suna had accepted both me and my techniques. Sunagakure was more my home than anywhere, it was the only place that I actually belonged. I wouldn't betray them, I would never betray my friends.

"You won't join Akatsuki." he mused, sounding as though he was taunting me. "According to the headband your wearing, you are a shinobi of Sunagakure."

I nodded a little, wondering why he'd brought that of all things up.

"Hai, they're more my home than anywhere." I said honestly, my voice had lowered slightly in volume.

"Very well." he said, I blinked dumbly. "If you do not join Akatsuki willingly, then I will send the Akatsuki to destroy Sunagakure and kill all those who inhabit it."

I felt my stomach drop at the words, no. Not my friends, not my village. They'd already taken our Kazekage from us, now they were threatening to destroy the entire village _and _it's people. This was…there was no way that he could get away with something like that, no one was strong enough to destroy an entire village.

"Don't doubt the strength of the Akatsuki." he warned, sounding dangerous. "All our members are of an S-Ranked status, when put together, we are the most destructive force this world has ever seen. The village _will _be destroyed, all because of your failure to cooperate with us. Now, I'll ask you one more time, will you join Akatsuki?"

I hung my head, my eyes locking on the floor. He'd backed me into a corner, a corner that I knew I would never be able to escape from. I'd rather him kill me than destroy the village I loved with all my being, he was using that love against me now. I wouldn't be able to win in a fight against him or any of his members, Suna wouldn't stand a chance against people of this power. I finally managed to swallow the lump in my throat, feeling hopelessly defeated. I looked up from the floor, meeting the gaze of the Akatsuki leader. I parted my lips and felt a few tears roll down my cheeks, saying the words that damned me.

"I will serve."

Now, there was no escape.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading guys and I hope you like it, just as much as I liked writing it. Review please :)**

**Lots of love**

**Eva**


	8. Chapter Seven: A New Life At Akatsuki

Chapter Seven

_Amegakure, Akatsuki Headquarters; Sada_

I curled up in a ball on my side, staring at the wall in thought. I didn't understand why this had to be happening, why the Akatsuki leader wanted me in the ranks of this organization. Why would someone do something so cruel as to use another's love against them and force them to do something that they didn't want part of? Things such as this always wound up happening to me, no matter how much I tried to avoid them. Now, I was trapped here with no escape. Kankuro, Temari, Baki, Sunagakure, I'd never see any of it again. The only time I would, was as an enemy rather than an ally. Why did this have to be my life, why was my life so horrible and complicated? Why was it when I was feeling like everything was beginning to get better, something had to come along and ruin all my happiness? I'd gained one thing throughout all this heartbreak and strife, Deidara. But even though I was with the Akatsuki, I didn't completely have him. I was more like a captive here, rather than a member of this feared organization. The leader had given me a position in their ranks as the tenth member but I still had this damned contraption around my wrist, stopping me from molding my chakra. I was more a prisoner than anything and I knew that even if I managed to get stronger, I would never manage to escape from this place.

I felt a few stray tears slip down my cheeks and wiped them away with the back of my hand, my eyes falling on the ring occupying my left pinky. The jewel on the ring was dark purple and the symbol was yoru, night. I didn't know the significance of the rings all the members wore but the Akatsuki leader had made it clear that I was not to lose the ring, so they must've been rather important. After a few short discussions, most of which I did not participate in, a blue haired woman had showed me to the room I would be staying in. I recognized her from her orange eyes, she'd been the one to stop my attack back in the cave, I learnt that her name was Konan. She seemed to be slightly withdrawn from conversation but she was a polite enough person, she'd given me a good number of instructions and explanations about how the organization functioned. One of the rules, that greatly confused me, was that we had to wear nail polish. Apparently it had been Konan's idea in the beginning and been turned into a rule by the leader, I honestly thought it was slightly funny that a criminal organization was wearing nail polish. After she'd left me, I'd decided to paint my nails a red color that matched rather well with my eyes. I'd also been giving my own black cloak with the red cloud design, a bamboo hat, and a uniform that I had to wear under the cloak. This entire organization made no sense to me, it was so confusing. I mean, really, NAILPOLISH?

I sighed softly at the thoughts, not succeeding in putting myself in a better mood and sat up in the bed, reaching over the side. I brought my bag off the floor, setting it infront of me. I was surprised that Sasori had been kind enough to bring my bag with them when they'd kidnapped me but I was still happy that I had all my most prized possessions. I went through the small pocket in the front of the bag, pulling out a necklace. It was simple thing, a white crystal but it meant so much to me. Haku had given this to me when I was nine years old, before I was sold to Orochimaru. This was the only thing I had left of the boy that had been my best friend throughout my childhood, the first boy to steal my heart. His death had brought so much pain to me, so much tragedy, I missed him everyday but I knew he was in a far better place than myself. I felt a small smile tug at my lips and tied the necklace around my neck, continuing to look through the small pocket. I felt my smile widen when my hand closed around something, pulling it out my bag. The silver charm bracelet Deidara had bought me years ago, the very first present I'd ever received from him. A total of three charms were hanging on the bracelet, all from the closest people to me. The blue butterfly, from Deidara. The red heart, from Sasuke. The kanji for love…Gaara.

I felt a stab of pain in my chest and grabbed the area over my heart, tangling my fingers in the material of my shirt. I clenched my teeth, my eyes were burning from the tears I was trying to hold back. I couldn't let myself cry, I just couldn't. Gaara was in a better place just like Haku was, he wasn't in pain anymore. He could be happy where he was, not having to deal with people being afraid of him because of the Ichibi. It was gone, he was free from it and would never have to deal with the pain again. I felt a small smile come to my lips at the thought and fully opened my bag after I put my bracelet around my free wrist, my hand touched a picture frame. I sighed softly and pulled the picture out, staring at it blankly. The second picture I'd ever taken in my life, back in Konohagakure…when there was still a Team 7. Kakashi was standing behind the four of us, smiling under his mask. Sakura was sitting on my left, looking extremely cheerful. Naruto was standing next to Sakura, flashing a peace sign and grinning his normal goofy grin. Standing on my right was Sasuke, a small smile on his lips and his arm swung loosely around my shoulders. Me, I had the smallest smile on my face and a slight blush from the contact with Sasuke. This was taken after the Chunin Exams, we'd needed to get a different picture made of us since I joined their squad after they'd taken their first team picture. It was the only picture I had of my old squad, I missed those times when everything wasn't as complicated as it was now.

I felt the smile on my lips widen at the sight of Sasuke's rare smile and set the picture on my bedside table, going through my bag again. My hand touched another frame, I pulled it out to look at it. My smile widened, the third picture I'd ever taken, the Suna siblings. This was taken some time after I'd set out from Konohagakure, when I'd went back to Suna after my traveling was finished. All three of the Suna siblings were in this picture, as well as myself. Temari was standing on my right, an amused look on her face. Kankuro was standing next to his older sister, his normal cocky smirk on his lips. Gaara was standing on my left, the normal stoic expression on his face. I had my arm looped through his, a small smile on my lips. Although Gaara had appeared to be a cold and emotionless person, in reality, he hadn't been. When we'd become friends back during the Chunin Exams, I'd learned so much about him through our conversations. He'd had such a horrible past, all the shunning and hatred he'd went through as a child. He'd just wanted to be loved by someone, cared for, appreciated. That's what I had given him when we'd become friends, and his emotions began breaking through his emotionless shell after a good while. I owed Gaara for helping me like he had, for showing that I wasn't the only person that was looked at as though they were unwanted. We were so alike, it was tearing me up at the thought of having lost him.

I sighed softly, forcing to keep in my tears and set the picture beside the other on my bedside table. I dug through the bag again, my hand touching the last picture frame I had in my possession. I pulled the picture out, a smile came to my lips at the sight of it…Deidara and myself. We'd had this picture made before the third round of the Chunin Exams had come around, we'd been dating about two weeks at the time. Deidara was standing behind me, hugging me around the waist with his chin set on my left shoulder, his normal grin on his lips. I was smiling a little, a blush on my cheeks and hugging his arms that were wrapped around me. When we'd had the picture made, the female photographer had thought we were so cute together, a perfect couple. I still thought that to this day, Deidara was the most amazing man and so much more than I deserved. I knew that I didn't deserve to call someone as amazing as Deidara my own, but he was mine and I was his. We loved each other, more than anything in the world. I knew that had he never come into my life, I would still be unable to smile. He'd been the reason that I'd smiled, for the first time in a good number of years, I'd been able to smile because of him. He was the reason that I breathed, the reason that I lived, the reason I was able to keep myself from falling into despair. Sometimes I wished…that I could say he was my only reason.

I looked away from the picture when there was a light knock at my door and moved up from my bed, placing the picture down. I crossed the room of my floor and stopped infront of the door, taking a hold of the brass handle and slowly opened it. I peaked around the door, a small smile came to my lips when I saw Deidara standing there.

"Dei." I whispered, a smile formed on his lips.

"Can I come in hm?" he asked with a teasing tone, I felt my cheeks heat up and quickly nodded.

I opened the door wider, allowing him to step inside my room. I shut the door and turned to face him, a blush setting on my cheeks when he pressed his lips against my forehead. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. I giggled softly when his fingers ran through my hair, his hand cupping my cheek.

'Wait a second…how can he be stroking my hair and touching my face at the same time? Could he have…'

"Your arm." I said softly, he nodded in agreement.

"Sasori no danna reattached it for me." he told me, I nodded a little.

"Does it work right?" I questioned, he shrugged.

"It needs more time to heal, so it may be a little while hm." he said, kissing my cheek. "Kakuzu-san attempted to reattach it for me but Sasori no danna wasn't pleased with the result, so he wound up unstitching it then reattaching it…again hm."

I giggled softly at his confused tone of voice and placed a kiss on his cheek, running my fingers through his bangs. He chuckled softly and scooped me up into his arms, I made a quiet eep noise in surprise. He laughed heartily and carried me across the room to the bed, gently setting me down. I smiled slightly when he sat beside me, his visible eye flicked to the picture frames I had set out on my bedside table. I felt uneasy feeling settle in my stomach as he looked over them, he finally turned his face back in my direction after a minute or so.

"That's your old team, right hm?" he questioned, I knew which picture he was referring to.

"Hai…I miss them." I whispered, rubbing my arm self-consciously. "I mean…I really didn't get along all that well with Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi-sensei was okay, he didn't understand me that well though. Sasuke…"

I stopped, my words felt caught in my throat. I lowered my eyes, playing with a few strands of my blue violet hair. I glanced up when Deidara's hand cupped my cheek, looking up into his visible eye. He was giving me the most concerned look, he was so worried about me. I took a breath and finished where I'd left off.

"Sasuke…was my best friend, he…left me." I said quietly, hating how I was beginning to get emotional.

"He was the one that went to Orochimaru, Uchiha's Omouto." he stated, sounding as though he was trying not to upset me.

I nodded in agreement and moved closer to him, hugging him tightly around the torso. He sighed softly and held my body close to his, burying his nose in my hair. I nuzzled my face against his shirt, hating all the memories that were coming back to me. The first _real _conversation Sasuke and I had ever had, the one that still stuck out to me the most. The very first time we got a glimpse of who each other really was, when we first began to connect. When we were pulled to each other, drawn…

_I had no idea where I was going or why I was following Sasuke, but I did anyway. I was curious about him to say the least, I wanted to know more about the feelings he kept hidden behind his dark eyes. Although we had never really talked, there was something about him that made me feel drawn to them. It was as though, we understood each other without needing verbal conversation. Body language and facial expressions were enough for us to know how the other was feeling or for us to have a vague idea of what the other was thinking. I blinked, looking around curiously. We'd ended up walking into a meadow, I followed him a little further into the meadow before Sasuke sat down. He looked at me and motioned with his eyes for me to sit. I sat beside him, leaving plenty of space between us. _

_"You seem so distant." Sasuke said, I glanced over at him and nodded in agreement."I'm not the only one that seems distant," I whispered, playing with a few strands of my blue violet hair."You think I seem distant?" Sasuke asked curiously, I nodded a little. "Nande?"I can see it in your eyes," I said quietly, I looked down at the grass and my hair fell over my face. "They're filled with loneliness as well as hate." _

_He grabbed my head, not roughly, and made me look at him. I was close to him, very close, it made me uncomfortable yet I was comfortable in a way. I couldn't explain it, it was just bizarre. I could tell though, just from the way he was looking at me, that he felt comfortable being this close to me. It was extremely peculiar that we were both feeling the same way about each other, I wondered what he thought of me."How can you see that?" Sasuke asked, sounding slightly frustrated."It's something I've always been able to do," I whispered. _

_He stared straight into my eyes for a few seconds before gently letting go of my head, moving a couple of feet away from me. I moved my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them and tilted my head to the side as I continued looking at him._

_"Why did you bring me out here?" I inquired, feeling slightly confused._

_He turned his head away from the sunset and looked in my direction, seeming as though he was deeply studying me."I wanted to understand what was going through your head." he answered, sounding honest. _

_I nodded, understanding a little better, and stared at him curiously. _

_'Why is he so curious about me?' _

_It was quiet for the longest time, neither of us said anything. We were both doing alot of serious thinking about each other. I was busy wondering what was going through Sasuke's head the whole time, wondering what had happened to him to make him feel so alone, what made him distance himself from people. I had a strong feeling he was thinking the same thing about me, we both seemed to be deep thinkers. The sun had almost fully set before Sasuke broke the silence, saying _

_"He made my life miserable. He killed everyone I cared about, I want to defeat him. I need to defeat him, it's my goal in life." _

_It would seem so random, to any normal person, but I wasn't normal in the least. This little statement of his, made me understand him a little better. His reason for wanting revenge was someone, he hadn't said who, but someone killed everyone he cared about. That also said why he was lonely, he had no one left that cared about him. By being alone and having no one that cared for you, that makes you miserable. Loneliness is a miserable life, how long had he been alone? As long as myself perhaps. He was still alone after possibly years worth of dealing with it…just like I was."Gomen." I whispered, knowing exactly how he was feeling. _

_He felt alone, betrayed, misunderstood. He felt the exact same way I did, and I could see that in his eyes...we were the same."They don't understand." Sasuke stated. "Naruto or Sakura, but when I saw you…I could see something." _

_I looked at him curiously, wondering what exactly he was talking about, and he stared back at me. What was it that he saw in me? _

_"Something in your eyes." he finished._

_I blinked, wondering if he was able to see the things in me that I saw in him and heard"What are you two doing out here?" _

_I looked over and saw Kakashi standing there, looking at the both of us with a curious gaze. I shifted further away from him, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the look he was directing towards us. Sasuke looked away from me, his eyes locked on Kakashi, an emotionless gaze."Talking." he said bluntly."Well head home, we have alot of missions tomorrow." Kakashi instructed.. _

_We nodded in agreement, and I slowly stood up from the ground. I glanced at Sasuke once before I head off towards my apartment, my thoughts focused on wondering what Sasuke had been thinking about._

'Sasuke…'

"Love."

I moved my face out of Deidara's shirt and looked up at him, smiling slightly when he stroked my cheek. He looked as though he was struggling with something inside him, what was going through his head?

"The Akatsuki…are attempting to assassinate Orochimaru for betraying us hm. When we get information on his whereabouts…I'll be sure to let you know." he promised, I felt the smile on my lips widen.

"You'd do that…for me?" I whispered, he nodded in agreement.

"I love you Sada-chan, if this Uchiha means so much to you that you're willing to rescue him…then I'll help you as much as I can hm." he told me, I felt tears of happiness beginning to roll down my cheeks.

"Dei…arigato."

I quickly pressed my lips against his as soon as the words were out of my mouth, putting my hand on the nape of his neck to keep his lips connected to mine. He seemed surprised by the kiss but not even five seconds later, his lips were moving against mine. I felt my eyes slip shut when he pulled my body closer to his, slipping my other arm around his neck. I smiled into the kiss when his fingers ran through my hair before his hand moved to cupping my cheek. I almost pulled out of the kiss when I felt his tongue run over my lower lip but forced myself not to be surprised. I willingly opened my mouth, moaning softly when his tongue found mine. His kisses always managed to make me feel lightheaded, like I would pass out. I didn't understand why his kisses were so intoxicating, I more than likely never would. I moaned softly into the passionate kiss, pouting when he pulled back from me.

"Nani?" I questioned, feeling confused.

He chuckled quietly and planted a kiss on my cheek, moving his lips next to my ear.

"I love you Sada."

I felt a smile come to my lips at the words and said softly

"I love you too Deidara."

I sighed softly and buried my nose in his shirt, inhaling his scent. Clay, it was such an amazing smell to me. Just his smell seemed to intoxicate me, just like his kisses. I blushed darkly at the thought, looking up at the blonde through my bangs. He grinned at me and moved me off his lap, pushing me to lay back on the bed. I smiled slightly when he laid next to me after putting my bag and picture frame on the floor, his arm went around my waist to hold me. I snuggled as close to him as I could, stroking his cheek softly.

"Deidara."

He tilted his head against the pillow, looking at me curiously. I smiled a little and whispered

"Arigato."

He smiled slightly, more than likely knowing what I was talking about and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Your welcome Sada." he murmured, kissing my forehead again.

I smiled and cuddled closer to him, smiling again when he pulled the sheets over the both of us. I was happy he wasn't planning on leaving me tonight, I needed him here with me right now. I didn't think I could manage to sleep in this place soundly, a place where murderers lived. It would take me a while to feel more comfortable in this place, until that time came around, Deidara could just spend the night with me. I knew he wouldn't mind, especially since we hadn't seen each other that much these past few years. We enjoyed spending time with each other, all the moments that we had together were special. Both of us felt this way, I knew it for the simple reason that we were in love. I felt the smile on my lips widen when Deidara whispered

"Oyasumi love."

"Oyasumi darling." I said with a gentle tone.

He planted a soft kiss on my lips and I smiled softly, closing my eyes tiredly. I snuggled close to Deidara, my muscles slowly began relaxing. I could feel consciousness slowly moving away from me, I vaguely heard Deidara whisper

"I love you Sada."

"I love you too Dei." I said quietly.

A few seconds later, I fell into the black world of unconsciousness with a smile on my lips.

* * *

**Author's Note: Awwwz, Deidara's such a sweetheart. It's all like...awww. He just loves Sada so much that he's willing to help her save her bestie from Orochimaru. Grrr, Sasuke. It's like he's fucking everything up without even being there. WTF? Thoughts, comments? Let me know by reviewing :)**

**Lots of love**

**Eva**


	9. Chapter Eight: Seeking out Revenge

Chapter Eight

_Amegakure, Akatsuki Headquarters; Sada_

I groaned softly when I felt my body waking up, my mind being pulled back into the conscious world. My eyes slowly opened and another groan escaped my lips when I felt the stiffness in my muscles, I blinked a few times to clear up my blurring vision. I finally managed to push myself to sitting up in bed and stretched my arms above my head, rubbing at my eyes seconds later. Where was I? This wasn't my room back in Sunagakure, it looked completely different with the black wooden floor, dark red walls with a huge cloud in the middle of the wall…wait…Akatsuki? Now I remembered, I was a member of Akatsuki now and I was with…Deidara! I quickly snapped my head to the right with a smile on my lips, the smile vanished almost as instantly as it had come. He wasn't there, instead, was a note. I took the folded note between my fingers, a small smile coming to my lips when I saw the beautiful clay rose that had been hidden under the paper. I giggled softly to myself, gently picking the rose up and sat it on my bedside table. I turned my attention back to the note after a moment of admiring the rose, slowly unfolding the paper.

**_Sada,_**

**_I deeply apologize for not being here when you wake up, I know this is a stressful situation for you to be here and you aren't comfortable with these surroundings. I would've stayed if I could've love but when a new member is introduced to the organization, the next morning, Konan visits them to give them a tour of the headquarters. I know it wouldn't be the best thing if she found us together, that's why I had to leave. She should be there some time around nine, breakfast is at ten so I'll see you there. I'm sorry Sada, I truly am. I hope this can make you smile when you wake up and hopefully, it will make your day a smidge better. I love you so much sweetheart, I'll see you soon._**

**_Forever Yours,_**

**_Deidara_**

I licked my lips in thought, wrinkling my nose absentmindedly. A tour of the headquarters? I guessed her reason for giving a tour the day after a member joins, was to give them time to rest a little, I found that to be quite considerate of the blue haired woman. I had to give her some respect for being so kind, I guessed that there were a few humane and polite people in this organization but that didn't mean I was going to immediately trust them. I chewed on my lower lip for a moment before putting the note next to the clay rose and forcing myself out of the bed. I walked across my room to the outfit that went under the Akatsuki cloak and stared at it blankly, not wanting to even _think _about putting the uniform on. I sighed softly and hung my head, my hair falling down both sides of my face. I felt so utterly defeated, I had no choice but to put it on. I wouldn't throw my Onin uniform in the trash, it was precious to me, exactly like my Suna headband. There was no way I would slash through it like some wild and savage beast, I wouldn't betray my village like everyone else in this accursed place.

I felt a smirk come to my lips at the thought and carefully changed out of my night outfit, slowly pulling on the Akatsuki uniform. I looked over my shoulder at my Onin uniform, carefully folded beside my bed on the floor and went to it, putting it in the bottom drawer of my small dresser. No one was messing with this uniform, it was one of the few reminders of my old life I had left and there was _no one _that would take it away from me. I finally moved myself out of the crouching position on the floor and turned to face the mirror, a frown set itself on my lips. I didn't like the style of the shirt, not in the least, I'd change it right now. I took a kunai out of my weapons pouch and cut at the shirt, making it so the shirt was in an off-shoulders design and the sleeves went halfway down my hands. I nodded to myself at my work and yanked my sandals on my feet, tying my headband around my waist seconds later; I felt a smile come to my lips when I ran my fingers over the Suna symbol. I blinked sadly, forcing myself not to think about anything concerning Sunagakure and looked up into the eyes of my reflection. It was bizarre, now the uniform actually looked good on me…why?

I looked over at my door when I heard a series of light knocks on the wood and crossed the floor, slowly opening the door. I peaked around the small crack, fully opening it when I saw Konan standing there.

"Ohayou Sada-san." she greeted, sounding professional.

"Ohayou Konan-san." I mimicked, she nodded once before her eyes ran over my appearance.

"You've altered your uniform." she stated, I nodded in agreement.

"Is that okay?" I questioned, my voice almost inaudible.

Konan nodded at my question, looking straight at my face after another moment or two of studying my uniform. I felt surprised when I saw the look on her face, she was…smiling? What was going through her head? I blinked curiously, studying her expression before looking straight into her eyes. What I saw in her orange orbs, greatly surprised me. Her eyes held sympathy, concern, worry, and happiness? How could someone feel that way about another, especially when they were actually enemies? Wait…the look on her face…it reminded me of…_her_…

_I was three years old, playing in the garden out back of the large palace my family lived in. I giggled quietly to myself when I looked over my shoulder, my mother was watching me with a smile on her lips. I looked at her waist length white blonde hair, smiling wider when I saw she hadn't ordered a maid to pull it up into one of her fancy hairstyles. My mother always looked so beautiful when she allowed her hair to flow free, especially with her bright green eyes, she was like a picture of perfection in everyone's eyes. I giggled quietly at the look my mother gave me, she'd raised an eyebrow at my staring._

"_And what are you giggling about now, huh?" she questioned, I shook my head._

"_Nothing Oka-san." I replied, turning my attention to the grass._

_The light in the room was fake light, my father had a large number of skilled shinobi and mechanics that put artificial light in certain rooms, I was especially pleased that there was light in the garden. Everything was so beautiful in here, it would've been a shame to keep it hidden in the dark. I looked around at the beauty once more, watching the few servants in the room tending to certain animals in the garden before looking back at my mother. She was deeply immersed in a conversation with one of the servants, I blinked and a frown set itself on my lips. She wasn't paying attention to me, I needed to get her attention back to me but how could I do that?_

'_Wait…I can show off my shinobi skills like Oni-chan does all the time.' _

_I nodded once to myself and ran across the grass, attempting to do a perfect cartwheel. I gasped when I didn't succeed, tumbling across the grass and landing straight in the pond._

"_SADA-HIME!"_

_I gasped in surprise, almost giggling when I realized I hadn't landed in a deep part of the pond. My dress was just soaked, my parents wouldn't be too pleased about that since it had taken a good week for the seamstress to complete._

"_SAVE HIME-SAMA!"_

"_SOMEONE, HELP!"_

"_MOVE!"_

_I looked away from the water and up into a pair of green eyes, my mother's eyes. Sympathy, concern, worry, and happiness; she'd felt all those emotions over me?_

"_Sada." she gasped, I smiled slightly._

"_Oka-san, gomen." I apologized, she shook her head and I saw tears roll down her cheeks. "Oka-san?"_

"_Are you alright Sada?" she questioned, I nodded in agreement._

"_Hai."_

_She let out a sigh of relief and bent down, lifting me out of the pond into her arms. She didn't even care that her dress would be soaked, why wouldn't she care, that was her favorite dress after all. She held my body close to hers, stroking my drenched hair. She sniffed and kissed my cheek tenderly._

"_Are you sure you're okay dear?" she asked, I nodded once._

_She sighed again and snapped her head in some direction, I looked over my shoulder to see all the servants bowing on the ground to her, she didn't seem pleased with them. What was she going to say?_

"_All of you almost allowed my child to drown, I won't accept this. Guards! Execute them."_

"_Nande Oka-san? That's not nice." I said softly, she smiled slightly at me and kissed my cheek._

"_I won't allow anyone to hurt my baby, I love you Sada." she told me, I smiled a little at her._

"_I love you Oka-san."_

I blinked away the memory, my eyes still locked with the blue haired woman's. Konan's eyes reminded me of my mother's eyes, she had a motherly look to her. But why would Konan look at me as though I were her child, it made no sense.

"I honestly love it, everyone here is so bland when it comes to their uniforms." she stated, her smile widening by a fraction. "It's not a huge change but it's cute, it suits you."

"Arigato." I said quietly.

"I hope we didn't get off on the wrong foot yesterday." she said, sounding sincere. "I've always wanted another female around here, it gets lonely only having men around. I hope we can get to the point where we consider ourselves friends."

I tilted my head to the side slightly and blinked, more than likely looking like a dumbfounded child in Konan's perspective. She giggled quietly seeing the look on my face and reached out, patting the top of my head hesitantly. I felt the corners of my mouth curl upward into a small smile at the contact and absentmindedly leaned my head into her hand, I could feel the warmth of her touch. I snapped my eyes open and backed away, realizing what I'd done.

"Gomenasai Konan-san, I…" I stopped, nothing coming to mind for an apology.

The expression on her face, I could tell she was shocked by my boldness but her eyes told me that she didn't blame me. She didn't know all that I had been through in my life and she wasn't going to judge me for it, even if I had made a huge mistake by cuddling up to her. I had a feeling Konan would be someone that I could trust but for now, it would be best if I kept my distance from her when it came to my feelings and thoughts. I raised my eyes back to her face, I knew I had a worried expression but I was unable to hide it from her. She smiled slightly, trying to assure me that she wasn't angry and said

"It's alright Sada-san, shall we begin our tour of the headquarters?"

I nodded in agreement and followed her out of my room, shutting the door behind me. I followed her down the metal like hallway, taking in my surroundings. There wasn't anything too special about this building, the walls looked as though they were made of metal, the entire building seemed to be metal except for the bedrooms I was guessing. The floor was a shiny polished wood, it was sleek and shined to perfection, I was slightly impressed by how clean the building was. I scratched my head in thought and looked towards Konan when she said

"This hallway is the bedrooms for all our members. That is my room, if you ever have a question or need something then don't hesitate to come see me. I'm normally in my room when I don't have any duties to attend to."

I nodded, promising her that I would come talk to her if one of those situations came about.

"If you come to my room and I'm not there, I'll be in leader-sama's office." she finished, I nodded again.

"Are you his partner then?" I questioned, she nodded in agreement.

"Hai, we both actually grew up together on Amegakure's streets." she told me, I cocked my head to the side confused like.

"On the streets?" I repeated, she nodded.

"When we were growing up, the Shinobi War was going on. Amegakure was the country stuck in the middle, we were the fighting ground for all the bigger nations. Both Pein and I lost our parents to the war, we became orphans and took care of each other when we were on the streets." she reminisced, I lowered my head sadly.

"Gomenasai, that must've been awful." I whispered, she sighed quietly.

"It's alright Sada-san, it's nothing you need to worry yourself over. The past is the past and there's nothing that can be done to change it. We just have to deal with it and go on living our lives."

I blinked curiously at her words, taking in all of it. I had to admit that Konan was quite the intelligent woman, she was very deep and insightful about everything. It was a sign to me, a sign that I would be able to have someone I could consider a friend in a depressing place such as this. I didn't say anything as we continued down the hallway, after a few more feet we took a left down another hallway and stopped next to a door.

"This is our training room, training isn't required every day but there are some exceptions made when it comes to our younger members." she explained, I wrinkled my nose slightly.

"I don't understand Konan-san." I said quietly.

"You're so young Sada, practically a child." Konan started, I lowered my head at the words.

"I'm not a child, I'm nearly an adult." I mumbled, more to myself than to the blue haired woman.

"Sada-san, I'm not trying to assume that I know how powerful you are when it comes to your jutsu and whatnot. I'm just saying that you aren't as experienced as the rest of our members." Konan said, trying to raise my spirits.

I sighed softly and rubbed my arm self-consciously, I knew I wasn't as experienced but it didn't mean that I hadn't put just as much work into my jutsu than the rest of them. Well…that wasn't really true either. With all of the members being older than myself, they'd had years upon years to put work into developing their jutsu and training themselves. I guess what I was trying to say was that I was just as dedicated to my jutsu as they were to there's, if not more dedicated since I'd had no one of my own village to help me with developing my jutsu. I'd had to learn everything on my own, with Zabuza's help of course. He hadn't been a Kuraigakure shinobi though, he'd had to steal as much information as he could on my village to train me in the arts of darkness style jutsu. Even then, I'd had to learn the jutsu on my own since no one other than a Kuraigakure shinobi could use darkness style techniques.

"What's that room?" I asked curiously, Konan smiled a little.

"Our medical room, we felt it would be best if it was across from our training room. Incase anyone got any serious injuries." she explained, I nodded a little.

That was an extremely smart thing to do, especially if someone was on the brink of death from serious injuries during training. I didn't necessarily think that Pein cared about his members, it was more like he would hate to lose a valuable asset to the Akatsuki organization. I guessed that Pein cared more about keeping the Akatsuki as strong as possible so he wouldn't have to go out and find someone to replace one of their members.

"Shall we continue?" Konan inquired, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I nodded and followed her back down the hallway, going through the un-adventured part of the headquarters.

"This hallway has our laundry room, kitchen, dining room, and living room." she told me, I tilted my head to the side curiously.

"A living room?" I questioned, she nodded in agreement.

"Although we have our differences, we all still socialize with each other." she said. "That's also the reason we have a dining room, to force socialization."

"Force it?" I repeated, she nodded a little.

"If they don't socialize, there's no way they can work together in battle." she explained, I understood easily what she meant by that; it was hard to work with someone in battle if you knew nothing about them. "Pein and I came to that conclusion, so we made sure a dining room and living room was made so they will socialize we each other. We also have a set time for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is at ten, lunch at two, and dinner is at six. Everyone that's in the headquarters has to attend, everyone also has an assigned day to cook."

"What if they don't go or cook on their day?" I asked, she giggled quietly.

"Then they have to clean the entire headquarters." she said with another giggle, I giggled quietly at the punishment.

"Men don't like cleaning." I commented, she nodded with a small smile on her lips.

"Exactly." she agreed.

We walked a little further down the hallway, Konan pointing out the rooms to me as we walked until we finally made it to the dining room. I bit my lower lip nervously, twiddling my fingers. Konan walked inside the room without a second thought, I followed behind her as silent as a shadow. I stealthfully peaked around Konan, looking at the huge dinning room table. A good number of people were sitting there, eight to be precise and they were all men. I wrinkled my brow, so Konan and I were the only females in the Akatsuki after all. Both Sasori and Deidara were seated at the table, they looked as though they were having a heated discussion about something or another. Sitting on their left was a what looked like a plant but now that I took a closer look, it was a man that had the appearance of a plant. His body was half white, half black and it looked as though a venus flytrap was attached to his back. His eyes were bright yellow, his hair was a dark green color, cut short. From here his teeth looked as though they were sharpened, I couldn't really tell. Sitting next to him was a boy wearing a black jumpsuit and an orange & black swirl mask covering his face with one eye hole. He had raven colored hair, cut short and messy. Sitting across from the Deidara and Sasori was a man with silver colored hair, slicked back. His skin was an ivory color and he had bright violet orbs, he also wasn't wearing a shirt so I could see that he had a necklace of some sort around his neck. Sitting on the shirtless guy's right was a man with a veil covering his hair, a half-mask covering everything below his eyes. His iris of his eyes was magenta, the area around the iris was a bright jade color and he had dark complexioned skin…there were stitches all over his arms as well. I felt my heart stop when I saw who was sitting across from the plant man, Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi.

I narrowed my eyes into a heated glare, Itachi. I was going to murder this man for what he'd put Sasuke through. Because of him, Sasuke had went to Orochimaru for power, betrayed Konohagakure, hurt his friends and comrades, and…abandoned me. This was all Itachi's fault, if he had never done the horrible things he'd done, Sasuke could still be in Konohagakure today with me and the rest of Team 7. It was all because of this man…this murderer and traitor. This man had ruined the lives of so many people, especially my life. I'd lost my best friend to the evil that was Orochimaru, now my other best friend was dead and the only thing I had left in this world was Deidara. Uchiha Itachi was going to die by my hand, if I failed today then I would keep trying everyday from then on until I killed him. I blinked when I felt Konan touch my shoulder and looked back at her, she was smiling gently at me.

"I'll have to leave after I introduce you to everyone, I have a number of duties I have to attend to." she apologized, I nodded a little.

"I'll be fine." I lied, knowing I more than likely _wouldn't _be fine.

She nodded and we walked over to the table, all conversation stopped and heads turned in our direction. I bit my lip nervously and rubbed my arm, trying to keep myself from blowing up while Konan was in the room. Deidara smiled a little when he saw us, I felt my heart lighten when I saw the sparkle in his eye. Deidara just always managed to make me happy when I was in the worst of moods, I didn't know how he did it but it always happened…even when I didn't want it to.

"Konan, who's the new bitch?" the silver haired guy asked, I felt my eyes narrow at the insult; I had a feeling I wouldn't be getting along with this guy too well.

"If I hear another foul word come out of your mouth, you'll wake up tomorrow without a tongue Hidan." Konan threatened, Hidan made a 'psht' noise and rolled his eyes. "I would like you all to meet our newest member, Sada. Sada, that's Kakuzu and his partner Hidan. Zetsu and his subordinate Tobi. Hoshigaki Kisame and his partner Uchiha Itachi. And you already know Sasori and Deidara."

I nodded a little, glancing up at the men through my bangs. They were all looking me over, like they were trying to size up how experienced I was and how much chakra I had…and if I was capable of being a cold blooded killer.

"I deeply apologize but I have to go now, be gentlemen for once." Konan asked of them, heading out of the room.

I glanced back over my shoulder to see Konan walk out of sight and turned my attention back to the table filled with Akatsuki members, taking in a slow breath. Everyone still had their eyes on me, I guess they thought I would say something about how tough I was or something. I wasn't even going to bother with that, I had my mind set on something else.

"Uchiha." I said, anger was easily recognizable in my voice.

The Uchiha prodigy turned his attention to me and I narrowed my eyes at him, saying maliciously

"I'm going to kill you for what you did to Sasuke."

His eyes narrowed into a fierce glare, he remembered me. Now…there was no backing out of this.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to update the next chapter of Sin. I feel really bad about the whole thing, but this will make you smile. I have internet where I live now so I'll be updating wayyy more often then I used to and hopefully we'll be able to finish Sin before this year's over. Hahahaha...I'm such a nerd. Anyway though, review on the story and let me know what you guys think. I've missed hearing your opinions about my writing and such.**

**Lots of Love**

**Eva  
**


	10. Chapter Nine: Aftermath

_Chapter Nine_

_Amegakure, Akatsuki Headquarters; Sada & Deidara_

"You're a baka hm." the blonde murmured quietly, I sighed softly to myself.

"I know." I whispered, staring at the bed sheets. "I just…couldn't stop myself."

Deidara sighed softly, shaking his head to himself. I glanced up at him, watching his blonde fringe move with his head, trying to get him to look into my eyes. He wouldn't do it though, he'd been avoiding my eyes for a good hour now. It was really destroying me as well, Deidara had never been upset or angry with me before. Now that he was, I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't have a clue what to say, think, or do. I blinked sadly, moving my eyes back to the bed sheets. He sighed quietly again, rubbing the rest of the cream over my blistered upper right arm before wrapping some bandages around it, trying to protect my arm from infection and bacteria. I glanced at him, trying to get a small glimpse into his eyes. Maybe if I could just see what was in his eyes, then I'd know what emotions he was feeling. I needed to know what he was feeling, I needed to know if he was angry with me. From how he was acting now, I was ninety-nine percent sure he was aggravated with me for what I'd done. I had to know for sure though. I moved my head slightly, managing to get a glimpse at his eyes.

'Sadness, worry, frustration…anger. I knew it, he _is _angry with me for attacking Uchiha. Kami, why did I have to lose control so easily? Why couldn't I be the kind of person that can control their actions and stop themselves from doing anything that will hurt their loved one's feelings? Why am I the kind of person that can't stop myself from doing something completely and utterly stupid? Nande?'

I lowered my eyes, trying to think of something to say to my blonde boyfriend. I had no idea what to say either, it was as though I couldn't say anything without making him more frustrated with me. I knew I had to try to gain his forgiveness though, I couldn't be alone again...I just couldn't survive through the aching loneliness and heartbreak. Deidara was the only thing I had left in the world and if I lost him, I'd have nothing left. I'd have no one to live for, no one to care for, and no one to love. I needed Deidara, he was the only person in this world I could trust right now, especially here at Akatsuki. I needed him and I had a feeling, that he needed me as well. Hopefully he wouldn't stay angry with me for too long because I couldn't take Deidara being angry with me.

"Please don't be angry with me." I asked of him. "I can't take you being furious with me."

"Love, I'm not angry at you." he swore, I looked up at his face…he still had the same stoic expression he'd had on his face for the past hour.

"Hai, you are." I disagreed, shaking my head. "You won't even look at me."

He sighed heavily, still avoiding my eyes. I felt my throat go dry, water forming around my eyes, why couldn't I control my emotions any better? I coughed and felt a few stray tears slip down my cheeks, I moved my eyes away from his face sadly. I heard him sigh again, but he didn't say anything. I coughed again, tears slipping back down my cheeks. I felt him gently place his hand on my left forearm, close to my elbow, his other hand going to the back of my left shoulder. He sighed quietly for what seemed like the billionth time and said

"Sada-chan."

I looked up at him, blinking dumbly when I realized he was staring straight into my eyes. I felt a small smile come to my lips, his eye was such a beautiful shade of blue, it always managed to captivate me. I watched a small smile come to his lips and he leaned his forehead against mine, placing a light kiss on my nose before moving his head away from mine.

"Take a deep breath, this will hurt hm." he said gently, I nodded a little.

I took a slow breath as instructed and exhaled, I grit my teeth when I felt him apply some pressure to my left arm. I squeezed my eyes shut and held in a scream when I felt him jerk my arm. I felt my arm pop back into place, groaning quietly in pain. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, biting down on my lower lip when I felt chakra being applied to my shoulder. It was so painful, I hated medical jutsu at times…it was the fastest way to heal people though so I couldn't argue that it was useful. I opened my eyes, trying my hardest to ignore the pain and stared at Deidara. He was focusing on healing my arm but his visible eye flicked to mine when he realized I was staring at him.

"Please don't hate me for what I did." I pleaded, Deidara's eye widened in surprise at the 'h' word.

"Hate you hm?" he repeated, I nodded in agreement.

"I didn't mean to attack Uchiha like that, I didn't even realize what I was doing. It just happened before I could stop myself, I didn't mean to lose control like that. Gomenasai Dei." I apologized, Deidara blinked dumbly.

"You think I'm angry because you attacked Uchiha hm?" he questioned, I nodded in agreement.

"I know he's your comrade and all, I shouldn't have done it." I whispered, using my uninjured hand to play with a strand of my blue violet hair. "I hope you won't stay mad at me over it, but I'm not apologizing to him. I hate him."

"Sada-chan."

I looked at Deidara curiously and he smiled a little, stroking my hair with his free hand. I blinked curiously, smiling a little when he cupped my cheek. I leaned my cheek into his touch, wishing that he wasn't wearing his gloves. I wanted to feel his skin against mine, and I absolutely loved the kisses his mouth-hands gave my cheek. I looked up at him through my lashes, his visible blue eye locked with my red ones.

"I'm not angry with you love." he swore, I blinked dumbly. "I hate Uchiha as well hm. I was surprised you attacked him but you left him with a bloody arm, that's more damage than I've ever managed to inflict on him hm. I was proud that you managed to stand up to him a little but I was upset because he hurt _you_. I'm not angry at you Sada love, I'm angry at him for hurting _my _angel hm."

I felt my jaw drop slightly, he was angry at Uchiha for hurting me? I didn't understand why he was angry at one of his comrades, I didn't understand why he hated Uchiha…I thought they would've been acquaintances or friends…rather than enemies. I didn't understand this organization in the least, how could people that hated each other work together as one unit?

"Nande?" I inquired, Deidara tilted his head to the side slightly. "Nande…do you hate him?"

"He's the reason I'm here hm." he said simply.

"You still haven't let go of that?" I asked, he shook his head and removed his hand from my shoulder.

"I never will hm." he vowed, I stared at him curiously. "My battle with Uchiha years ago, it haunts me every day of my life. I'll kill him one day though, I have a secret weapon hm."

"You always have a secret weapon." I teased, giggling softly when he kissed my nose.

He rolled his eye at my tone of voice, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. He leaned his forehead against mine, stroking my cheek softly.

"I have another reason to kill him now though." he said, I looked at him puzzled. "He hurt my angel, I promised you that no one would hurt you and I broke that promise to you hm. I will kill him one day, for you."

"Dei." I whispered, he put a finger to my lips.

"I _will _kill him hm." he swore, I blinked sadly.

He had that look on his face again, he hadn't had that look in years but I immediately recognized it. The look that was on his face right now, always told me how determined he was to keep a promise to me, I hated when he got that look. When he got that look, I knew he would rather die in the attempt to keep a promise to me, then not be able to keep it. It always scared me, I was terrified I would wind up losing Deidara because of his determination to keep promises like that to me. I lowered my eyes, removing his finger from my lips.

"Deidara, please don't talk like that." I asked of him, leaning against him. "I'm always afraid of losing you when you make promises like that to me."

"You won't lose me love." he assured, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I swear hm."

"Can we just not talk about this?" I pleaded, snuggling my face against his chest. "I just…want to enjoy this time I have with you."

He sighed softly and nodded, placing his head atop mine. I smiled softly to myself and leaned up, kissing his cheek. I heard a soft chuckle come from him and closed my eyes, my body relaxed against his. I nuzzled my head against his chin, giggling when he scooped me into his arms.

"What are you doing?" I asked, feeling slightly surprised.

"Taking you back to your room, you need rest hm." he answered, carrying me out of the medical room.

"Oh…Deidara?"

"Hm?"

"Am I gonna be in trouble with leader-sama?" I questioned, feeling nervous.

He sighed quietly, carrying me down the hallway and I felt him shrug.

"I don't know Sada-chan." he muttered, I nodded a little.

"I'm scared." I admitted, he kissed my forehead tenderly.

"Don't be hm." he asked of me. "I won't let you get hurt again, I swear on my life."

"Stop with the promising." I whined, pouting my lower lip. "You know I don't like when you promise me stuff."

He laughed heartily, looking amused. A quiet giggle escaped my lips and I snuggled my cheek against his chest, relaxing in his arms as he carried me down the hallway. I reached up to his face and placed my hand against his cheek, stroking his skin with my thumb.

"Do you think anyone's suspicious about us hm?" he asked, I licked my lips in thought.

"I don't know." I said honestly, continuing to caress his face. "Sasori-san seems like the only one that may be thinking it."

"Yeah." he agreed, I giggled when I saw the aggravated look on his face. "He was asking me about you last night hm."

I wrinkled my brow and reached down, opening the door to my room since his hands were keeping me from falling flat on my face. He walked inside and kicked the door shut, crossing the floor of my room and gently placed me on the bed. I leaned against the pillows, smiling when he sat next to me.

"What was Sasori-san asking?" I inquired, feeling curious.

Deidara rolled his eye at the question, grumbling something under his breath. I scrunched up my nose, feeling annoyed that he was avoiding answering my question. I pursed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest, saying

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"Nothing hm." Deidara said, shaking his head. "He just wanted to know if we knew each other."

"What'd you tell him?" I pressed, he chewed his lower lip in thought.

"I said no." he answered, I nodded a little. "It's only to protect you love. If anyone knows that we have history together, it could wind up bad for both of us hm."

"I know." I whispered, sighing softly. "I just…hate how we can be open about how we feel about each other."

"I know hm." he concurred. "I hate the idea of anyone hurting you because they have issues with me, that's why we need to keep our relationship a secret hm." he explained, I cocked my head to the left slightly.

"Who doesn't like you?" I asked, he laughed heartily at my question.

"Hidan, Uchiha, half of Zetsu, Kakuzu, sometimes Kisame, and sometimes Sasori no danna." he said easily, I blinked dumbly.

"Half of Zetsu?" I repeated, he grimaced.

"Heh heh, did anyone mention to you that Zetsu's has a split personality hm?" he asked teasingly, I felt my jaw drop in surprise.

"Split personality?" I repeated, Deidara nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so he's basically like two people." he said, I huffed quietly in confusion.

"I don't understand." I admitted, he nodded a little.

"I didn't either at first, until I experienced it hm." he reminisced, I gave him the 'keep going' look. "Ha ha, well I don't wanna draw everything out so I'll give you the short version. I was walking down the hallway to get some information from Zetsu for a mission Sasori no danna and I were about to go on hm. I'd never talked to Zetsu before so I didn't know what to expect. I walked in on him arguing with himself over something or another, the white side of him seemed really carefree and the black side of him was pretty twisted…evil hm." he explained, I felt my eyes widen.

"So the white side of him is nice and the black side is evil?" I asked, making sure I had the story straight.

"Yep." Deidara agreed. "Here's another warning about him too, he's a cannibal."

"Eek!" I squeaked, covering my face with my hands.

Deidara laughed heartily at my reaction and I peaked through my fingers at him, he chuckled again and took my hands in his. I smiled a little when I felt his tongue poking at the glove, glancing at him. He rolled his visible eye at me and released my hands, pulling his gloves off. I smiled and took his left hand, giggling when I felt his tongue lick at my palm.

"They've missed you hm." he joked, I giggled quietly again.

"I've missed their kisses." I laughed, Deidara smiled one of his warm smiles at me.

"Do you remember when I finally showed them to you?" he inquired, I smiled at the memory.

_"Can I show you something hm?" Deidara asked, sounding nervous. _

_I nodded a little, wondering what was going through his head, and he moved his hands from my waist."Dei?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side. _

_He smiled at me and undid the small buckle on his glove. I looked at his face curiously and watched him pull the glove off. I'd never seen Deidara without his gloves, but I was curious as to what he wanted to show me."You're always saying how weird you are...I don't believe that you are." he said softly, I tilted my head to the side curiously and he smiled. "You probably couldn't top how weird I am, hm.""What do you mean?" I asked, not understanding. _

_He smiled again and cupped my cheek with his hand, his skin was so soft. _

"_Deida-agh!" _

_I jumped when I felt something lick my cheek and looked at Deidara, wondering what was going on. I could feel my cheek was wet, like it had water on it...I was so puzzled._

_"What was that?" I asked, feeling confused._

_He smiled a little, looking rather anxious, and hesitantly held his palm in-front of my face. I stared at it, feeling slightly baffled, there was a mouth on his hand? I tilted my head to the side, slightly confused as to how he had a mouth on his hand, and poked the mouth with my index finger. A tongue licked my finger affectionately, and I looked over at Deidara. _

_"This...is your big secret?" I asked quietly. _

_He nodded and looked down towards my bed sheets, he seemed really self conscious about this. Had his father called him a freak because of this when he was a kid?"So...is it weird hm?" he asked, hesitating a little. _

_I looked back at the mouth on his hand and back at his face. I shook my head and smiled at him, trying to reassure him that it wasn't weird."It's not strange, it's unique." I said softly. _

_He smiled slightly, the nervous look on his face had diminished, and he kissed my cheek."I thought you'd freak out hm." he told me. "That's why I didn't show you until now." _

_I smiled sweetly at him and poked the mouth again, wondering if the mouth would have the same reaction as before. I giggled when it licked my finger and pressed my palm against Deidara's, entwining my fingers with his."Deidara-kun, you're not weird." I said honestly. "Don't ever think that because of this you're weird. It's not true." _

_Deidara smiled and I bit my lip, trying to suppress a giggle. The mouth was licking my hand again. _

_"Is this how you make your art?" I inquired, Deidara chuckled and kissed the back of my hand."Intelligent as always." he whispered, letting me know I was right in my assumption. "It's funny that you're not grossed out by this, hm.""I'm weird." I said, smiling a bit "This isn't gross, it's cool." _

_Deidara chuckled, looking amused with me, and kissed the top of my head."You're amazing." he said softly. _

"Hai." I whispered, smiling when he moved his free hand to my cheek; the mouth licked my cheek lovingly. "They were beautiful then and they're still just as beautiful now."

Deidara smiled and removed his hand from my face, I pouted cutely.

"Ooi, I wanted more of your hand-mouth kisses." I exclaimed, Deidara burst out laughing and released my hand to clutch his stomach since he was laughing so hard.

"Gomen love." he apologized, still laughing; I giggled quietly to myself.

I snapped my head to the door when I heard a light knock, Deidara stopped laughing instantly. I looked at him hesitantly, not knowing what to do. Deidara slowly stood up, walking to the door just as slowly. I watched as he hesitantly opened the door, I swallowed to try to get the lump out of my throat. I blinked curiously when I saw Konan standing there, she looked confused that the blonde Akatsuki member was in _my _room of all places.

"Deidara?" she questioned, Deidara rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ooi Konan-san." he greeted, sounding tense.

"What are you doing here?" she inquired, Deidara stepped aside so Konan could see me. "Oh my."

Konan stepped inside the room, looking confused when she saw the bandages around my arm and my bruised cheek. She whipped her head towards Deidara, looking angry.

"What have you done to this child?" she snapped, Deidara quickly through his hands in-front of him.

"Nothing Konan-san hm." he exclaimed. "I just got through patching her up, Uchiha-"

"Nani?" she interrupted, her eyes narrowing into a dark glare. "Itachi-san…nani?"

"Ano…" Deidara mumbled, I licked my lips nervously.

"Konan-san, Deidara-san didn't hurt me." I told her, she turned her attention to me. "I…attacked Uchiha because I have a bit of a grudge against him. It's my own fault I got hurt, Deidara-san was just taking care of me."

Konan stared at me for a moment before nodding, looking as though she believed me. She sighed softly, scratching her cheek.

"Sada-san, please try not to get in fights with any of the members again." she asked of me, I nodded in agreement.

"Gomenasai Konan-san." I apologized, she nodded a little.

"It's fine, perhaps I should have explained that fighting with members outside of training is prohibited. It's my own fault, I'll make sure that Pein knows I'm the one that messed up." she said, I shook my head.

I didn't want Konan to get on bad terms with her partner, especially since he was the leader of the Akatsuki. Above all, Konan and Pein had grown up together and I didn't want to be the cause of ruining their relationship with each other. By the way Konan had talked about Pein earlier, it sounded as though she was in love with him, the look in her eyes even showed it. I didn't want to ruin a future romantic relationship with them…this was my fault.

"Konan-san, I don't want you to get into trouble. It's my fault and I take full responsibility for it." I said softly, not wanting her to take the blame for something that she wasn't even involved in.

"It's alright Sada-san." she assured, she turned her gaze to Deidara. "I'm happy you were humane enough to help her with her injuries, no one else volunteered, did they?"

"No Konan-san." Deidara agreed. "Sasori no danna stopped the fight though, before it got bad hm."

"Well I'll make sure Sasori and you both get some extra leisure time before your next mission." she said, the bomber nodded in appreciation.

"Arigato Konan-san hm."

Konan turned her attention to me, looking slightly concerned.

"What injuries do you have?" she inquired, I bit my lip in thought.

"My arm was dislocated but Deidara-san fixed it." I started, she nodded a little. "My other arm got burnt by fire style jutsu, it's blistered. The bruise on my cheek and a twisted ankle…that's it."

Konan nodded, I could tell by the look on her face that she was trying to cover up her anger with professionalism, but she wasn't managing to succeed too well. She lowered her head in thought, saying after a few moments of silence

"Deidara-san."

"Hai?" Deidara asked, sounding respectful.

"Take care of her until her injuries have properly healed, I give you my permission to miss all meals to help take care of her. You're daily training won't be required until she's healed." the blue haired woman instructed, Deidara nodded. "I'll leave you both alone now, I need to go have a talk with Itachi-san. I better not find out that you're mistreating her Deidara-san."

"Never Konan-san." Deidara said immediately, I felt my cheeks heat up.

Konan exited the room without another word, Deidara shut the door behind her and turned his attention to me. He jumped across the room and landed face first on my bed, I giggled quietly in amusement. He turned on his side to look at me, a mischievous grin on his lips. I tilted my head to the side curiously and he said

"Wonder what's gonna happen to Uchiha hm."

I felt a small smile come to my lips and shrugged, watching as he scooted closer to me..

"Hopefully something bad." I said softly, meaning every word.

Deidara chuckled darkly and I leaned my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. Although I had lost my battle against Itachi, I was still planning on fighting him again. That day would come sooner then he would think and on that day, when I was stronger than him…I _would _kill him.

* * *

**Author's Note: Now I know some of you may be disappointed because I didn't have the Itachi VS Sada battle in this chapter. I'm sorry but it will happen, just be patient. Review and let me know how you liked this chapter. Let me know if you have any ideas on what should happen in this story, I love input :)  
**

**Lots of love**

**Eva  
**


	11. Chapter Ten: Training Gone Wrong

Chapter Ten

_Amegakure, Akatsuki Headquarters; Sada & Deidara_

"Alright, do it hm."

I nodded once to the blonde Akatsuki member and closed my eyes, focusing my chakra. I took in a slow breath and began to make some handsigns.

'Darkness Style: Draining of Light.'

I opened my eyes, staring up at the lights in the room. I felt a small smile come to my lips when the lights shut off, this time without the glass shattering. I'd made it one step further in this jutsu combination, now I just needed to get the second part right. I blinked, quickly pulling darkness into my eyes and looked at Deidara from across the room with black eyes. I took another quiet breath, watching Deidara as I made handsigns, praying that I wouldn't screw up this part of the jutsu. If I did…it would be a very dangerous environment for the both of us.

'Darkness Style: Black Portals.'

I glanced around the room, watching as tears began to form within the air. I held my breath in anticipation, waiting. I licked my lips, my eyes widening when I felt a gust of wind come from the portals. I gasped when I felt the strong wind tugging at everything in the room, trying to pull anything it could inside the portals. I'd used too much chakra, I'd made black holes instead of portals. I focused chakra into my feet, trying to keep myself from skidding across the floor, I could feel my hair flying in all directions.

"Deidara!" I screamed, hoping he'd realized what was happening.

"End it, hurry Sada!" he yelled, I focused my chakra to try to end the jutsu.

'Come on, come on…stop!'

I looked around, it looked as though all the black holes were moving towards each other…they were going to form into one and suck in the entire building. What could I do, the jutsu wasn't stopping. I gasped in shock when someone grabbed my arm, I looked over my shoulder to see it was Deidara.

"Love, you have to stop it hm." he said worriedly, I nodded in agreement.

"I know but I can't, I don't know how." I panicked, he took my face in his hands.

"Light Sada, bring the light back." he instructed, I nodded quickly.

I focused, making handsigns as quickly as my hands would move and heard the lights click back on. I looked around, the black holes were still moving towards each other, this wasn't good in the least.

'Kuso.'

"Sada, come on." Deidara shouted, tugging at my hand. "We need leader-sama hm."

I nodded and we ran to the door as fast as we could, fighting against the harsh wind. The only thing keeping us from flying through the air into the black holes was our chakra, we'd have been goners if we weren't shinobi. Deidara grabbed the door handle, pushing it down. The door flew open, I gasped when I saw a body get sucked into the room. Deidara grabbed my hand and pushed me out the door, barely managing to shut the door behind himself when he managed to exit.

"What the hell!"

I blinked dumbly when I saw it was Zetsu, both sides of his face didn't look too pleased with us.

"That was our dinner." the black side growled, Deidara breathed harshly.

"I'll find you dinner later hm." he swore. "We have a problem."

"Nani?" the white side inquired, sounding curious.

"There's a ton of black holes in the training room." I replied, feeling out of breath.

"Kuso." the black side cursed. "We need to alert leader-sama."

"Where is he?" Deidara asked quickly, I swallowed nervously.

"His office, preparing for a mission." the white side said cheerfully, Deidara and I bolted down the hallway with Zetsu following behind us.

We ran as fast as we could, turning a corner and ran down the other hallway. Hopefully Pein hadn't left yet because I had no clue how we could stop the black holes. It was something far too advanced for me at my current level, in the future I could've done something but right now…I was too weak. We skid to a stop when we made it to his office door, Deidara banged on the door urgently.

"Enter."

I felt a shiver go up my spine at the sound of his voice, he still had that affect on me even after two months worth of being here. Deidara opened the door and we all walked in slowly, trying to calm ourselves down. Zetsu shut the door behind us and we bowed our heads respectively, I looked up through my bangs at him.

"Do you three need something?" Pein inquired, I nodded a little before moving out of my bow.

"Hai leader-sama." Deidara said, moving out of his bow.

"Nani?" he questioned, I licked my lips nervously.

"Sada and I were training and…something went wrong with her jutsu hm." Deidara explained, I held my arms in-front of my body subconsciously.

Pein turned his cold gaze on me, I felt my body flinch slightly. I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and looked back, I felt a small smile come to my lips at the sight of Konan. I could just feel all the negative feelings in this room disappear at her presence, I took a slow breath to calm myself down.

"What happened dear?" she inquired, I twiddled my fingers nervously.

"I was trying to make portals…and now there's black holes in the training room." I mumbled, she nodded a little.

"Pein." she said, I looked back at the redheaded shinobi to see him nod.

"We'll handle this." Pein said coldly, moving up from his seat. "Let's go, Konan."

"Hai." she agreed. "You three go ahead and go to dinner, we have a mission to attend to after this."

We nodded and bowed once before exiting the room hesitantly, standing in the hallway. Pein walked out of the room, swiftly walking down the hallway. Konan closed the door of the room and turned her attention to me, I sighed sullenly and held my wrist out. She snapped the metal like bracelet back around my wrist, locking it. The only time I was aloud to have this device off my arm, was when I was training so I could use my chakra. Other than that…I was always stuck with it. I looked up from my wrist to see Konan give me a sympathetic smile before following Pein down the hallway. I bit down on my lower lip, glancing at Deidara through my bangs. He smiled an assuring smile at me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be alright Sada." he swore, I nodded hesitantly.

"Deidara."

I looked over, grimacing at the angry look on both sides of Zetsu's face. He still had that aggravated look on his face, apparently he was still a little angry that we made him lose his dinner. Deidara huffed quietly, nodding a bit.

"I'll get your dinner hm." he groaned, heading down the hallway. "See ya in a few Sada."

"Okay." I said quietly.

I watched his figure disappear around the corner and let a quiet sigh pass through my parted lips, turning on my heel. I head down the hallway, playing with my fingers as I walked before I finally made it to the dining room. I took a slow breath and entered the dining room, staring at my feet as I walked. It looked as though they were arguing again, this was a daily thing so I wasn't too surprised.

"You bastard, you just got a bounty two fucking days ago. I'm not gonna fucking drag my ass out again just so you can get another damn bounty." Hidan swore angrily.

"Shut up Hidan." Kakuzu ordered. "The organization needs more money, we're below our month's balance."

"I don't give a fuck." Hidan cursed, I glanced up at the group through my bangs.

"Why won't they shut up?" Sasori mumbled, running a hand through his hair lazily.

Itachi sighed solemnly, looking emotionless. I glanced around the table, slightly surprised that Tobi wasn't already here. He was normally one of the first people at the table during meals, talking loudly and trying to gain everyone's attention. I was guessing he went out with Zetsu and Deidara, while the blonde tried to find a replacement dinner for the cannibal. I took a seat near the end of the table, shuffling my feet against the floor. It was Kisame's day to cook, I was wondering what we'd be eating tonight. Kisame was quite the amazing cook, he always made food that made my taste buds tingle. I could honestly say he was one of the best cooks in the Akatsuki. I glanced across the table at the red headed puppeteer, playing with a strand of my hair. He smirked at me, I felt my cheeks go hot in embarrassment.

"How'd training with Deidara go?" he inquired, I felt my cheeks going warmer.

"Bad." I mumbled, his smirk widened.

"Nande?" he questioned, I played with my fingers under the table.

"I screwed up my jutsu." I said softly, Sasori raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"How so?" he asked, sounding genially interested.

"Well, I was trying to make portals." I started, sighing quietly. "They wound up turning into black holes."

He nodded a little, seeming interested. Sasori was one of the only people in the organization that willingly talked to me, he seemed more interested in my abilities than being my friend though. He also seemed suspicious about my and Deidara's relationship with each other, whether it was friendship or something more. He always knew when Deidara were together and always asked us about what we did. It looked as though he was onto us, closer to finding out our secret.

"Too much chakra?" he guessed, I shrugged a little.

"I suppose, maybe not enough. I'll figure it out though." I said quietly.

"Just keep practicing, do more research on your village." he advised. "It helps more than you think."

I nodded a little, smiling slightly when the plates for dinner were set on the table. I glanced up through my bangs, smiling a little at the former Kirigakure shinobi. He grinned a toothy grin at me, ruffling my hair. Kisame was one of the other Akatsuki members I managed to get along with. Although I hated his partner with an undying passion, Kisame didn't seem to care. I guessed it might've been from how young I was, I was basically the baby in the Akatsuki after all. So I guess he thought that I needed to be taken care of…weird right?

"How'd training go kid?" he asked, I put my face in my hands.

"Bad." I mumbled through my hands.

"She made black holes." Sasori explained, I peaked through my fingers to see Kisame roll his eyes.

"How'd ya manage that huh?" he inquired, I groaned through my hands.

"Portals." Sasori answered, Kisame laughed heartily and I moved my hands from my face.

"Quite the talented little kunoichi we have here." he joked, I pursed my lips.

"That's not nice." I whispered, Kisame laughed again.

"I'm just teasin' ya kid, no need to take it so personally." he teased, I felt a small smile come to my lips.

"Okay." I murmured, he smiled again and patted the top of my head.

I smiled a little, looking over all the food set out on the table; okayu, tamagoyaki, tsukemono, natto, ramen, dango, and sukiyaki. Kisame was completely awesome when it came to food, he always gave us such a selection. I licked my lips and grabbed some sukiyaki, dango, and ramen. I dug into my food without a second thought, eating slowly so I could enjoy the food. Hidan's day to cook was tomorrow, so I definitely wanted to enjoy this meal since Hidan wasn't the best cook. I moved my eyes to the ramen, blinking dumbly. No…this couldn't be. I took a slurp of the noodles, lowering my head sadly. This was Naruto's favorite type of ramen…

_"Guys we're here." Naruto said, leading me over to a table."Finally! You took forever Naruto." Sakura complained."Gomen." Naruto apologized, not looking very happy that he'd annoyed Sakura. _

_Naruto sat beside Sakura, leaving the only available seat by Sasuke. I glanced at him for a second before I sat down beside him. I could tell Sakura was upset, I didn't even have to look at her to know that. She liked Sasuke, but he didn't like her; the consequences of falling in love. _

_"So…who's ordering for us?" Naruto asked, the question was completely pointless. _

_A waitress would come to take our order, and we ordered for ourselves. That's how all restaurants worked, I guessed Naruto didn't understand that simple concept."We order for ourselves when the waitress comes back." Sasuke said, sounding annoyed. _

_Sakura giggled and Naruto rolled his eyes, not looking very amused with Sasuke stealing Sakura's attention. The waitress walked over to the table, and Naruto said _

_"Can you get me my usual ramen?" _

_She nodded with a smile and wrote it down, seeming as though she knew exactly what he was talking about. She looked at Sakura, and she said"Can I have Chanko Nabe?" she asked, was she on a diet or something? _

_Another nod, and more writing; Sasuke's turn."Sukiyaki." he said, sounding bored. _

_Nodding, more writing, then her head turned in my direction me. I didn't have my money with me, I'd forgotten it at my apartment; I shook my head._

_"Nothing for me." I said quietly."Are you sure?" she asked; I nodded in agreement and Sasuke said"Get her Sukiyaki." _

_I looked over at Sasuke confused and heard Sakura gasp quietly, apparently she was just as surprised as I was. Naruto looked as confused as I was at the moment. _

_"I'll pay for it, don't worry about it." _

_I looked at him blankly for a moment before finally nodding. The waitress came back with our food after a few minutes, and we all ate in silence. _

_'I thought this whole get together was to get to know each other. Oh well, silence is better for me than talking.'"So…?" Naruto drawled."I just remembered that I have to get home and help my mom. Gomen guys." Sakura said, looking directly at Sasuke."It's okay Sakura-chan." Naruto said, ignoring that she wasn't looking at him. "We can try this again another time." _

_Sakura left her money on the table and left the restaurant. Now it was me, Naruto, and Sasuke. _

_"So..." the blonde repeated._

_Neither me nor Sasuke said anything, and Naruto sighed sullenly. _

_"I have to get heading home too, bye." _

_Naruto left his money as well and walked out. Now it was me and Sasuke, great. I felt more comfortable around Sasuke than both Sakura and Naruto. I didn't understand why, but I could see in his eyes that he felt the same way I did. Like an outcast, like he didn't belong…alone even. I looked over at Sasuke, and he was staring at the two empty seats infront of us. Thinking that he might want some more room, I attempted to get up and was stopped by him."Stay." he asked of me. _

_I nodded in agreement and plopped back down in my seat. He didn't say anything again for a few minutes so I finished my food and finally made myself look at him, but I avoided his eyes."Sasuke." _

_He looked at me emotionlessl, but there was something different in his eyes than I normally saw. I didn't know what it was, but it was different then his usual emotionless look. He looked more comfortable being near me than being around other people. I didn't understand why but I wanted to find out, Sasuke intrigued me._

_"Arigato…for buying me dinner." I said quietly; he nodded, the smallest smile on his lips._

"_No problem."_

I lowered my eyes sadly and slowly ate my ramen, trying to keep my mind off my old life. There was no way I could get it back, there was nothing I could do now that I was a missing nin and marked in the Bingo book as an S-Ranked Criminal. I would never be able to get my old life back, no matter how much I wished I could…it would never happen. I sighed quietly to myself and felt a smile come to my lips when Deidara plopped next to me, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Find something?" I asked, he nodded.

"Took about five minutes hm." he said cockily, I smiled slightly.

"That's good." I murmured, he grinned and took my hand under the table, stroking it with his thumb. "Do you think the training room's a mess?"

"Maybe." he said, taking his chopsticks. "Leader-sama probably stopped those black holes before they did too much damage hm."

"I hope so." I said quietly, squeezing his hand.

"Don't worry yourself over it hm." he asked of me, I nodded a little.

"You too seem to be getting along rather well." Sasori observed, I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Psht, I need a friend around here Sasori no danna." Deidara said defensively, sounding annoyed.

"Ah, well it seems like you all are more than friends to me." Sasori teased, I grimaced a little.

"Ano…"

"We're fellow artists hm." Deidara scoffed, I nodded in agreement.

"Our little kunoichi is an artist?" Kisame inquired, I nodded a little.

"Since I was a kid." I agreed, taking a sip of my tea.

"Haha well you're just full of surprises aren't ya?" he teased, I felt my cheeks heat up again.

"Zabuza-sama didn't really approve of it." I said without thinking, I covered my mouth when everyone looked in my direction.

"Huh?" Deidara asked, sounding just as surprised as everyone looked.

I moved my hand from my mouth, shaking my head.

"Nothing." I mumbled, rubbing my arm self-consciously.

"Zabuza." Kisame laughed, sounding rather amused. "Didn't know you trained under him kid."

I nodded a little, wishing my brain would process something before it came out of my mouth. I hadn't wanted everyone to know about my former sensei, I'd never told Deidara about Zabuza _or _Haku. I was sure he was rather hurt that I'd never shared this information with him, I glanced over at him to see a hurt look on his face. Damn it, now I'd hurt my love's feelings…I felt like a horrible person. Maybe if I told everyone about it, Deidara would forgive me because I'd be going outside my comfort zone by telling everyone a piece of my past.

"Zabuza-sama saved me from death." I admitted, I looked up to see all eyes were focused on me. "It was after I ran away from my home village, I was dying and he saved me. He helped me learn about my villages abilities and helped me master my kekkei genkai. He's the closest thing I had to an Outo-san, my own Outo-san despised me for what I could do. I was with Zabuza-sama and his other subordinate for about four years before I was separated from them. It hurt when they died, they helped make me the shinobi I am today and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."

"Haha, Zabuza was always a softy." Kisame commented, I felt my eyes narrow angrily.

It sounded as though he was insulting my sensei, how dare he? Zabuza had been an amazing teacher to me and although he'd enslaved me to Orochimaru, he'd been a great guardian nonetheless. He'd taught me everything he knew, molding me into an amazing shinobi. He helped teach me about the world and everything in it, he taught me all the jutsu he knew and about other village's jutsu. How dare Kisame insult my sensei!

"He was an amazing sensei." I argued, my voice raised angrily for the first time since I'd been here.

Everyone seemed shocked at my outburst, other than Itachi, he never seemed shocked about anything. I narrowed my eyes angrily at the shark like shinobi, I could feel anger that I hadn't felt in years…it felt like it was going to consume me. I blinked when I felt a stab in my left shoulder, I could feel something hot moving over the top of my shoulder…the curse mark.

'No, not here…not now.'

I quickly pushed myself away from the table and grabbed my left shoulder in pain, standing up.

"Sumimasen." I said softly, swiftly heading out of the dining room.

I made it out the door and head down the hallway, I could feel the hot moving across my face and down my leg. I walked faster and after what seemed like hours, I made it into my bedroom before collapsing on the floor. I leaned my back against my bed and bowed my head, my blue violet hair falling down both sides of my face. I took in a slow breath, trying my hardest to control it.

'Focus Sada, focus.'

I let out a sigh of relief as I watched the mark move back up my leg, the hot moving off my face. I put my face in my hands, trying to calm myself down. I hadn't told anyone in the Akatsuki about my grudge against Orochimaru, Deidara didn't even know my real grudge against him. None of the Akatsuki knew of my history with him, what he'd done to me and put me through for years. I didn't want them to know and I was determined to keep this to myself for as long as possible. I sighed and moved onto my bed, curling up in a ball on my side. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, taking slow breathes.

No one could find out about my curse mark, it would make things all the more difficult for my plan.

* * *

**_Author's Note: And that is chapter ten. Oooooo wonder what Sada's plan is. And I wonder how Deidara's gonna take this news about Zabuza. Hmmm, well I already know but still...yeah. If you guys have any ideas on what Sada's future plan is review and let me know what you think is gonna happen. Thanks for reading._**

**_Lots of Love_**

**_Eva_**


	12. Chapter Eleven: The First Assignment

Chapter Eleven

_Amegakure, Akatsuki Headquarters; Sada and Akatsuki_

I blinked dumbly at the food set on the table for breakfast…bread?

"You're feeding us _bread _hm?" Deidara said bluntly, Hidan scoffed at the blonde's words.

"It's fucking toast, not bread." he grumbled; I tilted my head to the side in confusion, looking at the food from a different angle.

'It doesn't look like toast; it's too white and looks sorta flimsy.'

"I haven't eaten food in years and I can still tell that's not toast, it's bread." Sasori said nonchalently, running a hand through his hair lazily.

"It's fucking toast!" Hidan raged, Kisame laughed heartily at _that_.

"This sure is quite the advanced cooking you've done here Hidan." he joked; I felt a small smile come to my lips at his tone of voice, Kisame always was the type of person that could lighten the mood...or make it worse.

After what had happened at dinner yesterday, Kisame had surprised me by coming to my room to apologize to me for what he'd said. He'd told me he was sorry for offending me like he had and also told me that he had the utmost respect for Zabuza. He'd told me about how Zabuza had been the youngest person to join the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure, he'd been nothing more than a child when he'd joined into the gang of ruthless killers. We'd had a rather long discussion about Zabuza and Kisame's past, how long they'd worked together and that they had still been on good terms when the Swordsmen had went their separate ways. I was slightly surprised how many new things I learned about my former sensei from my talk with Kisame, I'd thought I'd known everything about my sensei but I'd been wrong in my assumption. I was going to have to make a visit to his and Haku's graves the next chance I got, I'd discovered that my former sensei's sword was supposed to have been passed down to his subordinate. Although I knew I'd have no use for the blade and it would be nothing more than a trinket, it was still rightfully mine. I had trained under Zabuza for many years and the blade would have went to Haku had he not died, he'd trained under Zabuza far longer than I had but I knew I was the only one meant to have Kubikiri Bōchō. I'd grown up training under that blade, fighting beside it, and defending it. It was mine and I was determined to find it, I knew Zabuza had been buried with it so hopefully no one had touched it since the last time I'd visited the graves.

"Shut your damn mouth you bastard!" Hidan screamed, Kisame merely laughed again and shook his head to himself in amusement.

I glanced down the table, watching Kakuzu mumble something under his breath. He seemed rather irritated today, frustrated…I had a feeling a fight was coming any minute now. That was a daily thing here in the headquarters though, if Hidan got too violent/annoying I knew Kakuzu would drag him by the hair to the training room so he could beat the snot out of him. Kakuzu wasn't the type of person that would deal with Hidan's immaturity for too long, he was too short tempered for that. I'd actually recently learned from Sasori that during the early years of the Akatsuki, Kakuzu had a number of different partners. The reason he'd had so many, he'd killed them all because they'd got on his nerves. The only reason Hidan was Kakuzu's partner, was because he simply couldn't kill him…apparently he'd tried a good number of times.

I moved my eyes to Deidara, smiling a little when he took my hand under the table. I felt the smile on my lips widen and entwined my fingers with his He smirked and I felt his hand-mouth kiss my palm lovingly.

Deidara had also come to visit me after dinner last night, a few minutes after Kisame left to be precise. He'd been worried and I couldn't blame him, I hadn't acted like myself and I knew it had upset him. Thankfully Deidara was all too forgiving, he'd dismissed everything, no questions asked. I wound up telling him the story that revolved around my relationship with Zabuza, I'd told him about Haku…then the reunion with them years later. I'd even opened up about the feelings I'd had for Haku, how he was the first boy I ever loved and how I'd lost him merely hours after realizing my feelings for my childhood friend. Deidara had comforted me about it, he'd been sympathetic and the exact opposite of what I'd expected from him…I'd thought he'd be jealous but he wasn't. After that, we'd laid on my bed and fell asleep holding each other. The only thing I left out of the conversation was Orochimaru, I knew how Deidara got and I didn't want him to do something stupid like try hunting down Orochimaru and getting himself killed. I knew Deidara was strong but there was no way he could beat the Sanin in a battle, Orochimaru was still far too powerful. I'd kill him though; I was determined to save Sasuke.

I wrinkled my nose when I felt the mouth lick my palm…great now I had saliva on my hand. I looked over at Deidara, raising an eyebrow at him. He chuckled softly, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes to myself, turning my attention to Hidan when he said

"Kami, will you stop fucking laughing at me you bastard!"

Kisame chuckled softly, Hidan narrowed his eyes angrily.

"That's it you damn asshole, I'll sacrifice your ass to-"

"Enough Hidan." Kakuzu interrupted, his head resting in his hands.

"Oi, this doesn't concern you fucker." Hidan growled, Kakuzu raised his head slightly.

"Shut up Hidan." He ordered, sounding threatening.

"Fuck you bitch!" Hidan shouted, Kakuzu stood up from his seat.

"Hidan, shut up." Kakuzu repeated, Hidan laughed maniacally.

"What the fuck are you gonna do bitch?"

I felt a small smirk come to my lips at the memory.

"_Hidan enough." Kakuzu said slowly, I looked up from my plate across the table._

"_Shut the fuck up." Hidan growled, turning his attention in my and Deidara's direction. "I wanna training session with the newbie."_

"_Back off asshole." Deidara barked "Leader-sama put Sasori no danna in charge of her training, he only lets me train her hm."_

"_What makes you so special blondie?" Hidan spat, I moved my eyes back to the plate. "What's so special about the newbie that only certain people can train her huh?"_

"_It's none of your business hm." Deidara snarled, his grip on my hand tightened slightly under the table._

"_Why you mother fucker-"_

"_Hidan shut up!" Kakuzu roared, Hidan smirked in his direction._

"_What the fuck are you gonna do bitch?"_

_I felt a gasp come from my lips when Kakuzu swung his fist, it came in contact with Hidan's jaw and his head snapped to the side. Kakuzu roughly grabbed Hidan by the hair and snapped his head to the right, I cringed when I heard a crack…he'd broken his neck. Kakuzu released his hair, sitting back down in his seat while Hidan's body fell forward, his face landing in a hot bowl of soup._

'_He just killed his partner…holy shit.'_

"_Oi you mother fucker!" Hidan shouted, I felt my eyes widen in shock….he was still alive?_

I felt my smile widen a little at the memory, Kakuzu sure had shown him; I wondered what would happen this time. I glanced over when I heard some footsteps; Konan entered the room seconds later.

"Ohayou everyone." she greeted, all yelling and curses stopped.

Konan smiled brightly, more than likely relieved that she could hear herself think. I waved a little at her, I watched the smile on his lips widen.

"Ohayou Sada-san." she said sweetly, I felt another smile come to my lips.

"Ohayou Konan-san." I said quietly, she nodded a little.

"I hate to interrupt…" Konan stopped, looking at what was set on the table for 'breakfast.' "Hidan, this isn't breakfast."

"I fucking tried woman." he complained, her orange orbs narrowed in anger.

"I want something more presentable on the table when I return." she instructed, Hidan glared angrily at her.

"What the fuck-"

"Be quiet." she interrupted, Hidan shut his mouth unwillingly. "Itachi-san, Kisame-san, Sada-san. Leader-sama has requested you three in his office at this time, I'll be there once I finish up here."

I blinked dumbly and moved my eyes to Deidara, he didn't look very pleased about this. I didn't understand what was going on, why did Pein want the three of us in his office? Kisame and Itachi were partners, I understood that but I wasn't partners with them. Hell, I didn't even have a partner yet so I didn't understand why Pein wanted to see me _as well as _Itachi and Kisame

"Hai, Konan-san." Itachi said in a monotone, moving up from his seat. "Let's go."

Kisame nodded in agreement and stood up, I looked at Deidara hesitantly…slightly afraid to be in the same room as Pein without the blonde by my side.

"Go on, I'll see you in a minute hm." he swore, I nodded a little at his encouragement and stood up.

I followed behind Kisame as Itachi led the way out of the dining room, down the hallway towards Pein's office. I tugged at Kisame's sleeve and he looked at me over his shoulder, giving me a toothy grin.

"Nani kid?" he inquired, I licked my lips nervously.

"Why does leader-sama need me with you guys?" I asked quietly, Kisame scratched his head in thought.

"Don't know kid." he admitted. "What do you think Itachi-san?"

Itachi didn't say anything for a moment as we walked; I thought he had completely ignored Kisame before he said in a cold voice

"Perhaps we have a mission; the girl has yet to be assigned a partner so she's possibly going to be accompanying us."

I wrinkled my nose, a mission? I moved my eyes to my wrist; I still had this metal chakra blocking contraption around it…would they remove it if I had to go on a mission? I hoped so because not being able to feel your own chakra was a weird feeling, it was like an empty void in your body. The only times they removed this chakra blocking device was when I had training, even then I only had it removed for a short period of time before they snapped it back around my wrist. If they weren't willing to remove it for this mission, I would be completely useless in battle. Taijutsu could only manage to help for so long after all, especially when you weren't a specialist at it.

Kisame nodded once, more than likely agreeing with the elder Uchiha and sent a small smile my way.

"Don't stress too much kid." He advised; I blinked dumbly. "These missions aren't too difficult, they're basically like missions assigned to Anbu so you won't have too much trouble. Ne Sada-chan?"

I felt a small smile tug at my lips at his teasing tone of voice and we stopped in front of a door, I felt a wave of darkness creep over me. His chakra…it was still so intimidating, so dark. Itachi opened the door when a dark voice said

"Enter."

The elder Uchiha walked inside the room, Kisame swiftly followed his example. I bowed my head, my hair falling down both sides of my face and entered the room behind Kisame. My eyes met another pair across the room…Pein's eyes. I felt a shiver run up my spine, cringing slightly when the door slammed shut. I glanced from Itachi to Kisame, before mimicking them and bowing my head in respect.

"Itachi, Kisame, Sada." Pein said, acknowledging our presence.

"You wished to see us, leader-sama." Itachi said, I raised my head to see Pein nod in agreement.

"Hai." He agreed. "I have just received an intelligence report from Zetsu concerning Sunagakure."

I felt my heart stop in my chest at the word…Sunagakure…home. It felt like it'd been so long since I'd been home, been out in the warm desert. The sand, the sun, the heat…I missed it terribly, as well as all people.

"Shouldn't you be discussing this with Sasori-san then?" Kisame inquired, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Seeing as he is the Suna shinobi in the Akatsuki."

Pein leaned forward slightly, out of the darkness and stared at us coldly. I felt myself shrink back slightly at the look he was giving us.

"Sada is also formally a shinobi of Sunagakure, she will be your guide through the village."

I blinked dumbly; guide…did this mean he was sending us to Sunagakure. I felt my heart skip at the idea of going back home, of being able to see Temari and Kankuro…even if it was in secret. I needed to know how they were doing, especially since they were dealing with the loss of Gaara. I was trying to be strong, trying to remember all the good times Gaara and I had togethert but all the memories just seemed to make me sadder. They all hurt so badly, even thinking about him hurt. Perhaps this was what I needed. Maybe going on this mission to Sunagakure was a good idea, it might help me deal with my feelings and it could help me get the closure I so desperately needed.

"We're going to Suna then." I guessed; Pein nodded in agreement.

"You'll just be doing an observation mission, verifying if Zetsu's report was accurate." Pein said, closing the folder on his desk.

He picked up the folder and held it out to Itachi, Itachi took the folder without question.

"Kisame, Itachi you both are dismissed." Pein said, I blinked curiously when my name wasn't mentioned.

The Akatsuki duo bowed once to Pein and exited the room without a word; I looked over my shoulder when the door shut to see Konan standing there. She walked further into the room and stopped next to me; I played with a strand of my hair nervously and turned my attention to the redhead leader.

"Leader-sama...ano-" I stopped, Pein said

"I would like to inform you that we'll be permanently removing the bracelet from your wrist."

"R-really?" I choked, he nodded once.

"Hai." Konan said, I turned my attention to her. "We've both discussed it and we feel that you won't betray the organization. Don't mess up on this mission though, or it will be re-attached to your wrist when you return from Sunagakure."

I nodded in agreement, shuffling my left foot against the floor. So this meant that if I tried to escape/give out information on the Akatsuki/give the whereabouts of the Akatsuki headquarters/not obey my superiors during the mission (Itachi and Kisame) then I would basically be screwed into the ground. Fantastic, I was being treated like a child.

"Hai Konan-san, leader-sama." I agreed, I looked over towards Pein to see him nod.

"Very well, I will remove it."

I stepped over to his desk when he motioned me closer and held out my wrist to him. I shuddered when I felt him stop suppressing his chakra and place his finger on the metal bracelet, doing a number of handsigns with one hand. I blinked dumbly when the bracelet cluttered against the desk, a small smile came to my lips seconds later; I could feel my chakra for the first time in a week.

"Arigato leader-sama, Konan-san."

"You're dismissed." Pein said, I bowed once at the words and quickly exited the room.

I smiled widely and walked down the hallway, rubbing at my wrist as I walked. I had to have a plan and I needed one fast because after this mission, I was determined to fight Uchiha again and this time…I knew I would win.

* * *

**Author's Note: And there you have it, chapter eleven is finally up and finished. I'm terribly sorry the updates are coming so slowly. I'm trying really hard to keep them moving and update as quickly as possible but work has just back me up so bad. But anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter and look out for the next one. Review and let me know what you all thought, and what you think might happen in the upcoming chapter. Thanks for the support and love kids :)**

**Lots of Love**

**Eva**


	13. Chapter Twelve: Our Own Family

Chapter Twelve

_Akatsuki Headquarters, Amegakure; Sada and Deidara_

"Sunagakure hm?" Deidara repeated, I nodded in agreement.

"Leader-sama's sending me with Uchiha and Kisame-san." I said softly, trying not to upset him; Deidara clenched his fists angrily.

"I swear Sada, if he hurts you I'll kill him hm."

I lowered my eyes to the floor, sighing softly to myself at the words. Why did he always have to get so worked up, especially when there was no reason to get worked up? I knew what he was thinking about, he was thinking about that promise he made to me…and I wished that he could just forget about it. My battles were my battles, Deidara need not get himself involved, but he wouldn't back down. I knew that Deidara wasn't powerful enough to defeat the elder Uchiha and I think that he knew that as well, but he was far too stubborn to listen to me or anyone else. After all the years of us being together, there was one thing I'd learned about him…he never let a grudge go. No matter who it was, if they'd done something to get on his bad side, he wouldn't drop it until he killed them…and that wasn't who Deidara truly was.

Grudges were terrible things, they turned a person into something that wasn't who they truly were…just like what they were turning me into. This wasn't me…I didn't do the things I did for personal gain, I fought for a reason. What was my reason for fighting the elder Uchiha? I thought for a moment, the only thing I could think of was Sasuke. I was fighting him, trying to kill Itachi just because he'd hurt Sasuke terribly. Hadn't Sasuke said that he was the only one that could kill Itachi? No one else could do it, he was the last of the Uchiha and it needed to be done by Uchiha hands. Maybe…I just needed to drop my grudge against Uchiha Itachi and just move on with my life. Itachi hadn't made Sasuke go to Orochimaru, he hadn't held a kunai to his throat and forced him…Sasuke had went on his own free will. Maybe that was something I needed to realize, maybe…I just needed to let go.

I groaned quietly at all the thoughts running through my head and hid my face in my hands, not knowing what I needed to do. I was slowly but surely, going completely and utterly insane.

"Sada-chan?" Deidara questioned, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine Dei." I swore, moving my face away from my hands. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"Stuff."

"…"

Awkward silence…those weren't fun.

Deidara nodded a little, knowing I didn't want to talk about it and flopped down on my bed. That was one of the many things I loved about Deidara, he wouldn't push me to talk about something that I didn't want to talk about. I smiled a little to myself and opened my weapons chest, filling my weapon's pouch with the essentials. I tilted my head to the side curiously, a grin stretched its way across my lips.

"Deidara."

"Nani hm?" he inquired, moving across the bed towards me.

"Remember these?"

I held up my sais, he chuckled softly.

"That sure was an interesting day hm." He reminisced; I nodded my agreement at the memory from so long ago.

_"I found the both of them out in the forest around three last night, Hokage-sama." the Jounin guy said...what was his name again?_

_"And how long have you kept them here Riku?" the Hokage asked, not sounding very interested; oh so that's what his name was...like it really mattered._

_"Since around...four or so." Riku answered, sounding skeptical._

_"So you've kept them here for about three hours?" the Hokage guessed, not sounding very impressed. "And you thought I would do something similar, not in a thousand years."_

_"Demo Hokage-sama-" Riku started._

_"Enough, not another word out of you." the Hokage interrupted, I grimaced slightly at his tone and cuddled closer to Deidara. _

_I heard footsteps across the floor and glanced up through my bangs, the Hokage was walking over to us. He didn't look angry with us; he looked rather calm and collected. I blinked curiously, he was hiding something. I searched his eyes, trying to find it. He was tired, worried, something serious must've been going on in Konahagakure to make the Hokage this worried…but what was going on? I glanced up at Deidara and he smiled softly, trying to assure me that everything would be alright. _

_"Konnichiwa Sada, Deidara."_

_"Ooi." Deidara said nonchalently._

_"Hi." I whispered._

_"What were you both doing out passed curfew?" the Hokage asked, not seeming as though the question interested him too much. _

_I didn't say anything and looked at Deidara, should we tell the truth or...what? I didn't have a clue what to say but Deidara could think of something quickly that was believable…I didn't want him to get in trouble. The blonde sighed quietly and said_

_"Well sir here's what happened hm. I work at an Art store and it closed late last night. After that I had to do inventory since the actual owner won't be returning until next month. I didn't finish until about somewhere close to three hm. So I walked to Sada's house because I left the key to my apartment there. She gave me my key and mentioned how she forgot one of her...what was it love? One of your..."_

_"Sais." I said quietly._

_"Oh right, that's what it was hm." Deidara lied. "So I didn't want her walking in the forest by herself so late so I went with her. We started looking around, but we couldn't find it. So we decided to go back and search for it today hm. Then this baka came and told us we were out passed curfew and in huge trouble, hm." _

_The Hokage looked at Riku and finally chuckled._

_"Didn't you tell him this story?" the Hokage asked, sounding amused._

_"Well I didn't get the chance hm. He wouldn't let us explain anything." Deidara said, slightly annoyed. _

_I nodded agreeing, and the Hokage chuckled again._

_"How's your training for the Chunin Exams coming Sada?" he asked randomly, I smiled slightly and said_

_"It's been going good. That's the reason I went looking for my sais. I was going to use them for my battle."_

_"Wonderful Sada." He said, I smiled a little at the praise. "Do you still believe they need to be punished?" he asked, Riku shook his head; the Hokage nodded once. "I thought the same. Go back to your houses, and get some rest. I look forward to seeing your match Sada."_

_"Arigato Hokage-sama." I whispered, standing up with Deidara._

_We walked out of the building towards my house after bowing once to the Hokage, I glanced over at Deidara with a small smile on my lips. We were so good at getting away with stuff, Deidara was a natural born liar, but I could tell by his eyes the entire time that he was. I was good at reading him, better than most people were. I couldn't believe the Hokage believed that story._

"_We're so good." Deidara commented, I giggled slightly and he hugged me tightly, spinning my around in a circle._

"_Eek, no." I whined; Deidara laughed heartily and set me on my feet, holding me close to him._

"_You're amazing hm. You're so important to me." He whispered, I nodded in agreement._

'_Haku…is this who you sent to me?'_

I smiled a little to myself and attached my sais to my sides, grabbing my Akatsuki cloak from the bed. I slipped my arms through the sleeves, turning my eyes to Deidara as I buttoned it.

"Love, be careful hm." He asked of me; I nodded, I knew he would be worried the entire time I was gone.

"I will Dei, don't worry so much." I pleaded; he nodded and jumped to his feet, hugging me tightly. "Deidara?"

"I love you so much Sada." He told me, I buried my face in his shoulder at his tone of voice.

"I love you to Deidara, please don't worry about me. Kisame-san won't let anything happen to me, I was his friend's apprentice…he won't let me get hurt." I whispered, I felt his lips press into my blue-violet hair. "Will you walk me to the exit?"

"Yeah hm." He agreed, moving out of the hug.

He took my hand in his and we exited my room, walking down the hallway together. I sighed softly to myself, moving closer to Deidara. He released my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist, keeping my body as close to his as possible. I didn't mind in the least, I knew I was going to miss Deidara. Even if this was just a week long mission, I hated being away from him for any amount of time…even the thought was tearing me up on the inside. I would miss everything about him, his kisses, his hugs, the way he held my hand…I didn't know if I was going to manage to survive a week away from him. We'd been together every day for two months, from dawn until dusk; this was going to be a _long_ mission. I looked up through my bangs, blinking dumbly when I saw the entire Akatsuki (minus Pein) standing at the exit. Deidara's arm moved to around my shoulders instead of around my waist, I looked at him curiously.

"What's everyone doing here?" I inquired, he grinned cheekily.

"It's tradition hm. We always see each other off on their mission, Konan-san wanted us to feel more like a family hm." He said, I nodded a little; the Akatsuki really were like their own little family.

We stopped once we made it to the group, Konan smiled slightly. She looked sad, worried….afraid? Why would she be afraid? I couldn't even begin to understand what was going through the bluenette's head. She held her arms out to me, hugging me tightly. I blinked dumbly before wrapping my arms around her, hugging her back. She sighed quietly and said

"Good luck Sada-san, I know you'll be brilliant."

"Arigato Konan-san…I'll miss you." I said quietly, she nodded her agreement.

"Me too."

She pulled back from the hug, smiling sadly and ruffled my hair affectionately. I giggled quietly, fixing my hair as best I could. She turned to Itachi and Kisame, saying

"Take care of her alright?"

Kisame laughed heartily and nodded, grinning his normal toothy grin.

"Hai Konan-san, she'll be safe with us." He chortled, she smiled a little at the promise.

I looked around the group, my eyes stopping on Kakuzu. He groaned quietly and reached into his cloak, pulling something out. He held it out to me, I took it from his hand hesitantly. I looked at it, feeling confused…bandages?

"They're made out of a special material." Kakuzu said gruffly, I glanced up at him through my bangs…my red eyes meeting his jade ones. "If you get any life threatening injuries that can't be healed immediately with basic medical ninjutsu just wrap that area of your body with those bandages, it'll stop the bleeding instantaneously. Just don't remove them until you get back to the base and I can heal you."

"Arigato Kakuzu-san." I said quietly, feeling shocked that he would give me something so advanced…to save my life to make things even more shocking.

"Hidan…didn't you have something to give Sada-san as well?" Konan said, I turned my gaze to Hidan curiously.

He rolled his eyes and threw something at me, I easily caught it and looked down…it was a Jashin necklace?

"Jashin-sama will protect you if you wear it." He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest; I raised an eyebrow and nodded a bit.

"Arigato Hidan-san."

"Whatever." He mumbled, I smiled a little at his tone and hung the necklace around my neck; Hidan nodded approvingly.

I looked at Sasori when he took a step towards me, the red head handed me a scroll and I blinked dumbly.

"I found it a good number of years ago and managed to repair it, but I'm unable to use it. It's a puppet made by a Kuraigakure shinobi." Sasori explained, I felt my heart stop in my chest at the words. "It's only able to be used by a Kuraigakure shinobi, I suppose your shinobi have a special technique to use puppets."

"Arigato Sasori-san." I said quietly, running my fingers over the scroll. "What's it's name?"

He smirked at the question.

"Tamotsu." He said easily, I nodded. "He's a beautifully made puppet, a true genius must've made him."

"Arigato." I repeated, stowing the scroll away in my weapon's pouch; now I had a piece of home with me…hopefully this wouldn't curse me.

I glanced at Zetsu, he merely nodded…I guess that was his way of saying good luck. I moved my eyes to the masked boy standing next to him…I prepared myself to be crushed to death.

"Sada-sempai, Tobi will miss you." He whined, lunging forward.

Deidara grabbed onto the boy's head, holding him back from me. He narrowed his blue eye angrily, shoving him back.

"Deidara-sempai!" Tobi whined. "Nande-"

"Shut the fuck up hm." Deidara barked, I took a step back at his tone of voice; I hated when Deidara sounded like that. "She doesn't need to be injured before she _leaves_ for the mission."

"Let's go." Itachi said in a monotone voice, Kisame and I nodded.

I took a step towards the duo before stopping, looking back at Deidara. I knew he wanted to tell me he loved me, and I wanted to tell him I loved him…but we couldn't with everyone here. Deidara didn't want them to know about our relationship because he wanted to keep me safe. I couldn't think of anything else to say though…there was nothing in my head besides those three simple words.

"Ano…" he started, I turned towards him. "Be safe hm." He said simply, I nodded a little.

"Yeah."

"…"

Awkward silence for the second time today…damn.

"Fuck it hm!" Deidara exclaimed, I looked at him curiously.

My eyes widened in surprise when he smashed his lips against mine…right in-front of the entire Akatsuki.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry it's taking me so long to update guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks so much for the reviews from the last chapter, and sorry that I left a cliffhanger like that. Review and let me know what you think the Akatsuki are going to say about Deidara and Sada being a couple. Do you think they'll get in trouble? What will Pein say? Uh oh, will they never be able to see eachother again? Let me know what you think will happen. **

**XOXO**

**Eva**


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Observation

Chapter Thirteen

_Kaze no Kuni,__ Sunagakure; Sada, Itachi, Kisame_

"So you and Deidara huh?" Kisame inquired, I felt my cheeks go pink at the words.

"Ano…" I mumbled, not really knowing what to say.

"Ha, I've been wondering why he's so protective of ya. How long's this been goin' on huh?" he teased, I felt my cheeks go hotter and lowered my head slightly.

"Ano…"

"Come on kid, where'd ya meet him?" Kisame pushed, I lowered my bamboo hat slightly and sighed softly.

"Will leader-sama be angry?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Heh, as long as it doesn't interfere with the organization I wouldn't see why." Kisame answered, I nodded to myself in relief.

We were close to Sunagakure, we'd been traveling for about two days and the closer we got, the more nervous I was. Let me correct myself, I wasn't just nervous, I was _terrified_. I didn't want to enter my former village as an enemy and I didn't even want to _imagine_ harming the people. Itachi still had yet to inform Kisame and myself of our mission, other than that it was a simple observation and stealth mission. I guessed he would tell us the details soon because we weren't that far away from Sunagakure. I was happy that this mission didn't involve combat, I didn't think I could make myself harm one of my former allies. It just wasn't in me. I wasn't a ruthless coldblooded killer, I was in fact the complete opposite. I was more of a pacifist than anything, my reason for fighting was to protect those precious to me. I didn't fight unless those I cared for were threatened but unfortunately, I could no longer live by my morals. Now that I was an Akatsuki member, I had to follow my orders without question or hesitation…I hated that I wasn't in control of my own path now.

After leaving the headquarters, Kisame had continually questioned me about my and Deidara's relationship. I'd managed to avoid talking about it for the time being but Kisame just kept poking at the subject, I'd come to realize that he wasn't going to drop the subject until I just told him the truth. Itachi hadn't seemed too interested in knowing about Deidara and I, but Itachi wasn't one to prod into people's private lives. Then again, Itachi didn't really seem interested in anything other than completing his missions as they were assigned to him. The only person Itachi really cared to associate himself with was Kisame, I didn't know the reason why but I didn't care to; Itachi's business was his business.

When Deidara had kissed me back at the headquarters in front of everyone…let's just say there was a bit of an outburst from everyone.

_I felt a small smile come to my lips when we parted, leaning my forehead against his and rubbed my nose against his._

"_I love you Dei." I whispered, he grinned._

"_Love you too hm."_

"_I knew it."_

_I blinked dumbly and moved away from Deidara, turning my gaze to the Akatsuki. Sasori was standing with crossed arms, leaning the majority of his weight on his left side and had the hugest smirk on his face. Kisame also had a smirk on his face, he looked just as amused as Sasori. Itachi looked emotionless as usual, which wasn't too surprising._

"_I knew it." The red head repeated, I felt all the blood in my veins go cold. "You knew her even before we ran into her on our last mission, ne Deidara?"_

_Deidara didn't respond, he moved his arms around me and kissed the side of my head affectionately. I was sure he could feel how tense my body was; he rubbed my arm, trying to silently soothe me. Sasori chuckled to himself when Deidara didn't answer him, an empowered look on his face; hopefully the puppet master didn't harass Deidara about this while I was away._

"_Aw!" Konan exclaimed, I felt my cheeks go warm when I saw the huge smile on her face. "I approve."_

_Deidara chuckled; I felt my cheeks go warmer at the words. Did that mean she didn't care if we were a couple? Konan was wonderful, she was such a wonderful person; I didn't know where this place would be without her cheerful demeanor._

"_Arigato Konan-san." He chortled; Konan merely smiled and shook her head to herself._

"_Kids." She mumbled, heading down the hallway with Zetsu. "I wish the world could always be this bright."_

"_What the fuck!" Hidan shouted when Konan had made it out of hearing range, I shrunk into the safety of the blonde's arms. "How the fuckin hell, did this dumb shit get the only girl in this place that's up for grabs? Jashin, this sucks fuckin dick!"_

"_Fuck off Hidan." Deidara spat, Sasori shook his head to himself. "You're never gonna touch her so don't even think about it hm."_

"_You think that you cocksucker, I-"_

"_Enough Hidan." Kakuzu interrupted, grabbing him by the hair. "Good luck to all of you on your mission."_

_And with that notion, Kakuzu proceeded to drag Hidan down the hallway by his silver hair; the Jashin worshiper was cursing him with every step he took._

"_Sempai is so lucky." Tobi commented, Deidara's grip on my waist tightened slightly at his words. "Sada-sempai is so pretty and strong, Tobi thinks Deidara-sempai is a lucky man."_

"_Get the fuck outa here hm." Deidara snapped, the masked boy darted down the hallway when something exploded on his mask._

"_AGHHHHHHHH!"_

"_Well we need to be going then, ne Sada?" Kisame advised; I nodded a little and turned to Deidara, kissing his cheek gently._

"_Love you Dei."_

_He smirked and kissed my forehead before releasing me, saying_

"_I love you Sada-chan hm."_

"Sada-chan." Kisame cooed; I twitched at his tone, snapping out of my thoughts.

"About three years ago." I said simply, glancing at the shark-like man. "We met in Konoha."

"Konoha." Kisame repeated, seeming confused. "When was Deidara in Konoha?"

I opened my mouth to say something but I was surprised when Itachi said

"Deidara was assigned to gather information on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki before we began our mission to capture Naruto."

"Ah." Kisame chuckled. "So it seems Deidara disobeyed the orders of not mingling with the enemy."

"We met on accident." I said quickly, trying to keep the blonde out of trouble. "I was walking back from an art store and tripped over my own feet, Deidara helped me pick all my stuff up and walked me home. We just kind of….kept seeing each other after that. He didn't tell me anything about Akatsuki."

"Hmph, must really care about ya then." Kisame chuckled, lowering his bamboo hat. "To not tell you anything but secretly keep in contact with you throughout the years, trying to keep you from our sight."

I blinked dumbly at the words, lowering my head in thought. Deidara cared so much about me that he had tried hiding my existence from the Akatsuki, just so I wouldn't be sucked into this world of murder and chaos. Even though his attempt had failed, it still showed me how much he cared for me…how much he loved me.

"Almost there." Kisame grunted, I glanced up.

I felt my heart skip a beat at the sight of the large gates sitting in the distance, Sunagakure….home. I was almost there, I now knew how much I had truly missed Sunagakure. I could feel my heart aching at the sight, I couldn't wait to step inside the village. I squinted my eyes, trying to see if I could count how many guards were on duty at the gates, the sun was setting over the horizon though so I couldn't really tell how many there were. I estimated somewhere around fifteen, possibly more.

"The objective of our mission..."

I glanced over when I heard the Uchiha prodigy's voice, stopping in my tracks. Kisame stopped next to me, our eyes focused on Itachi. He glanced over at us, saying

"Zetsu reported to leader-sama that there were whispers among the people that the fifth Kazekage was resurrected from the dead."

I felt my heart stop...Gaara.

"Our mission is to infiltrate Sunagakure and discover if these rumors were true."

'Gaara's alive?'

"We are under orders to observe and report, that is our mission. We are not to get into combat with the enemy." Itachi finished, I lowered my head to the ground.

'He's alive, Gaara's alive. But...how could he be alive. Sasori-san said they killed him...how could he be brought back to life? How is that even possible? I...I have to see him.'

I could feel my head spinning with all sorts of thoughts, I couldn't even begin to understand how this could be happening. Having the Ichibi extracted from him had killed him, it would happen to every Jinchuuriki if they had the Bijuu extracted from them. How could Gaara have been resurrected after that had happened? I put my face in my hands, trying to comprehend all this new information.

"Let's go, lead the way girl." Itachi said, I raised my eyes from the ground and head closer to the gates as instructed by the elder Uchiha.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down and we stealthy-fully slipped inside the village unnoticed. I glanced around the sandy village, trying to locate where all the guards were. We couldn't arouse suspicion, we couldn't afford to. But I was the one that had to be kept undetected at all costs. I had to see Gaara, I had to explain everything and...I had to give him one last hug. Because I knew in my heart, that I would never see Gaara again after today. I closed my eyes in concentration, focusing on sensing chakra.

'There, only five guards in the watch towers. It should be easy for us to avoid their sight, if not, there's always jutsu.'

"Five guards eh?" Kisame grumbled, I opened my eyes to see Itachi nod in agreement.

"Girl." he spoke, I glanced at him cautiously. "Do you have any type of jutsu for a stealth mission such as this?"

I nodded in agreement and focused on the five different locations, making some handsigns as I closed my eyes. I took in a slow breath, releasing my chakra into the jutsu.

'Darkness style, Black slumber.'

I opened my eyes after a moment, nodding once to Itachi when I didn't sense the chakra from the guards.

"It's done, they'll be unconscious for about ten hours."

Itachi nodded in approval and we hopped up onto a roof, heading in the direction of the Kazekage's office. As we traveled, I couldn't help but dread this moment. How would I manage to slip away from the Akatsuki duo to talk with Gaara? I needed to see him, to speak with him, I couldn't just pass up this opportunity. But how would I manage to escape from them, they'd had a watchful gaze over me since we'd left for this mission. I knew they didn't trust me, especially since they knew that I still had ties with Sunagakure. They knew I hadn't cast aside my village like they had, and they also knew that I had been the right hand of the fifth Kazekage. They weren't going to let me go anywhere without them by my side.

I blinked when I felt something grab my arm, I looked back over my shoulder to see Kisame had a tight grip on my arm. I looked down grimacing at the sight, I'd almost walked straight over the edge of the building

"Watch yourself kid, might walk off a roof if ya don't pay attention more." he said, I nodded a little in agreement and he released my arm.

"Gomenasai Kisame-san." I said softly, he grinned a little and crouched down on the roof.

I glanced past him to see Itachi was also crouched down, his Sharingan eyes focused on something or another. I looked at Kisame, his eyes were focused on the same thing more than likely. I mimicked their actions after moving away from the ledge slightly, looking in the same direction as Itachi and Kisame. I felt my red orbs widen in shock, my breathing stopped. Their he stood, alive and well...Gaara.

I felt tears begin rolling down my cheeks, lowering my bamboo hat slightly. I couldn't let them see me crying, a shinobi wasn't supposed to show emotion; especially an Akatsuki member like myself. But as I continued staring at the red head that I had spent the past couple of years of my life with, I couldn't help but cry to myself. My best friend was alive...but I couldn't be there with him, I could never associate myself with him again as anything but enemies. My eyes flicked from the red head, to my fellow Akatsuki members, they were still focused on the Kazekage.

"It appears as though Zetsu was correct." Kisame chortled, Itachi nodded once.

I moved my eyes back to Gaara, he was leaning against the railing on the balcony, looking as though he was lost in thought.

"Gaara."

My eyes widened when Temari and Kankuro walked out together, I felt my heart breaking at the sight of the three of them standing together. Kankuro had survived that poison after all, and Temari had made it back to Sunagakure in one piece. I wished I could be there with them, standing with them...maybe if I hadn't went looking for the Akatsuki, I could've been. I felt some more stray tears slip down my cheeks, trying to hear their conversation.

"Gaara it's been months, you need to let go of this search." Temari was saying, Kankuro nodded in agreement.

"Face it Gaara, she's dead."

Gaara shook his head, looking as though he didn't want to hear what they were saying. Kankuiro lowered his head, looking at Temari. She sighed and placed her hand on Gaara's shoulder, he shrugged it off and moved his eyes to the stars.

"No she isn't." he disagreed.

"Gaara-" Temari started, Gaara's ice cold glare shut her up.

"Sada isn't dead." he said, I felt my heart skip a beat. "She's alive, I can feel it."

Gaara was searching for me?

"Heh." Kisame grunted, I glanced over at him. "You must be in the Bingo book now kiddo."

"She is a missing nin after all." Itachi stated coldly, I lowered my eyes at his words; he was right.

"He's looking for me." I whispered, Kisame placed a heavy hand on my shoulder; I glanced up to see him give me a small smile.

"Let go of your ties, it's harder if you don't." he advised, I blinked dumbly at how serious he was being for once. "It's what's best for you."

"I...don't think I can." I admitted, lowering my eyes. "He's my best friend."

Kisame sighed quietly and rubbed my shoulder comfortingly, I raised my eyes from the roof to see Itachi stand up.

"Let's go. Our mission is complete, we need to report to leader-sama." he ordered, Kisame nodded in agreement.

"C'mon kid." he said, standing up as well; I tried to make myself stand up but I couldn't do it.

It felt like the conscious part of my mind didn't have control over my limbs anymore, it felt like the subconscious part of my mind was controlling my body. I knew that the subconscious part of my mind was focused on escaping from the Akatsuki and returning to my normal life. I knew that wasn't possible though, and I also knew that I couldn't survive without Deidara in my life because he had never been part of my _normal_ life. No matter how much I wanted to make myself move though, I couldn't do it.

"Sada, come on." Kisame urged, I blinked dumbly when Gaara's gazed abruptly moved to us.

I felt my eyes widen when I saw the words formed on his mouth, Akatsuki; we were caught.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry it took a while for me to upload another chapter guys. I'm working way too much for my own good, god damn my manager at work. But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. Please review and let me know what you all thought, it would mean alot to me. I have also set up a poll on my page concerning this stories ending. I know that's a long way off but it has to do with who you as the viewers, think Sada should end up with; Sasuke or Deidara. Vote please, and let me know who you all think would be a better match with Sada. Thanks for reading guys 3**

**Lots of Love**

**Eva**


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Escaping Suna

Chapter Fourteen

_Kaze no Kuni,__ Sunagakure; Sada, Itachi, Kisame_

My red eyes locked with his sea green ones, I could see the anger flashing through his eyes at the sight of us. I could see every emotion he was feeling at this moment; anger, frustration, fear, hatred, and above all...the intent to kill. I hadn't seen that look since the Chunin Exams, back years ago. Back when he felt like his purpose in life was to kill, back when he thought there was no one in the world that would ever care about him, back when his loneliness was what controlled his life. Back when my goal, was to help him and be the first person he could call a friend.

_I groaned when I heard a knock on my door, pulling the covers off myself and head down the hallway tiredly. I sighed to myself and almost gasped realizing something. I'd given Gaara the address to my house, something must've been wrong. I bolted the rest of the way down the hallway, skid to a stop infront of the door, and jerked the door open. I'd been right, there stood Gaara. I tilted my head to the side curiously, he didn't look upset, but then again…he never did. He always looked emotionless, but something had to be wrong. We'd been steadily talking to each other more and more, I had a feeling he was beginning to consider me a real friend. If I saw him on the street, he'd stop to talk to me…after yelling at Temari and Kankuro to leave. Sometimes at night, if I felt like I couldn't sleep, I'd go roof hopping for a little while. I normally came across him when I did this, but when I would see him I'd sit next to him, and we'd talk. We hadn't trained together though, he'd told me he didn't want his demon to go out of control again and hurt me. I understood that, and I was thankful that he was beginning to learn how to care about another person. He'd never come to my house though, so I knew something had to be wrong. I looked at Gaara curiously and said_

_"Gaara…is something wrong?" _

_He took a shaky breath, and I opened the door a little further. _

_"Gaara, please. Come in." I asked of him, he nodded and took a step into my house; I closed the door behind him. "Come on, we'll go to my living room."_

_He nodded again, and I led him to my living room. I watched him take the gourd off his back and place it on the floor, next to the couch. He took a seat on the couch and I sat next to him, leaving some space since he didn't like physical contact too much. I waited for a minute, silence. I let out a quiet sigh, knowing that he wasn't really good at sharing his feelings, and said softly_

_"Gaara-kun, what's wrong?" _

_He looked at me, his same emotionless gaze, and said_

_"It won't shut up." _

_I nodded, knowing he was talking about his demon, and scooted a little closer to him._

_"I know you're more powerful than it Gaara-kun, you can beat it." I told him; he put his head in his hand, not seeming like he agreed with me._

_"Blood." he mumbled, I shook my head._

_"You don't need to kill Gaara-kun." I said quietly, he looked up from his hand at me. "That's not your purpose."_

_"Purpose." he repeate; by the look in his eyes, I knew that he understood what I was talking about it. "It's always been my purpose." _

_I shook my head, he couldn't start taking steps back, that wouldn't have turned out good for either of us._

_"No." I disagreed, he looked at me with a cold look. "Gaara-kun, killing is not your purpose."_

_"What is then?" he asked after a moment of silence, I blinked._

_It wasn't that I didn't want to tell him what his purpose was, it was that I couldn't tell him his purpose because I didn't know it. Everyone discovered their purpose in life on their own, but everyone had the same smaller purposes. Like being there for your friends when they needed you, protecting those you care about, etc._

_"Gaara-kun…your main purpose is something you have to figure out on your own." I told him honestly, he nodded._

_He didn't look very happy that I couldn't tell him his purpose in life, but I wasn't going to let that demon of his pull him away from me. We'd made major progress in him, and I wasn't willing to throw it all away. I was going to tell him the minor purposes a person has in life, perhaps that would help him figure out his main purpose._

_"Demo…you have other purposes than just your main one though." I said, hoping his demon hadn't started whispering to him again; He looked slightly interested in what I was saying, I was happy I was able to help him this way. "Everyone has these, including you Gaara-kun." _

_He nodded, looking like he wanted to know what I was thinking. _

_"You have a purpose to be there for your friends when they need you." _

_He lowered his eyes, thinking about what I'd just said. I gave him time to think, not saying anything else, before he looked back up at me._

_"You're…my friend." he said, hesitating a little; I felt a smile come to my lips, and I nodded in agreement._

_"Hai Gaara-kun, I'm your friend."_

_"When…are you there for them?" he asked, my smile widened._

_"When they're hurting." I stated. "People hurt two ways, physically and emotionally. When they're physically hurt, you stay with them and help them feel better."_

_"When I broke your ankle." he said, before I could say anything else; I nodded in agreement, hoping he still didn't blame himself for that._

_"Hai, when you were in the room with me…it showed me that you cared about me. You were there for me." I said, he nodded. "It made me happy."_

_"What's the…emotional way?" he asked after a minute, hesitating when he said emotional._

_"When people get hurt emotionally, it hurts on the inside." I told him, my hand moved over my heart. "In here."_

_He looked at me hesitantly, I knew he understood what it felt like to hurt emotionally, but I guessed he didn't know where it came from. I removed my hand and slowly reached down, touching his hand. No sand came up stopping me so I took his hand and placed it over his heart. He gave me a blank stare, blinking. I guessed I'd have to do a bit of talking about it._

_"Can you feel your heart?" I asked, he nodded. "In here, it hurts. The hurt comes from here…but you can't live without your heart."_

_He nodded again and I took my hand off his, watching him hold his hand over his heart. He seemed fascinated by it, fascinated that the place that made you hurt so badly, was so small. I didn't want to make it seem like it was a bad place though so I said_

_"Demo…" I started; he looked away from his hand over his heart, locking eyes with me. "That's the place that can make you happy, where you feel love."_

_He blinked, moving his hand to his head slowly. I mentally cursed myself, realizing that his uncle had been the first person to explain love to him, his uncle had betrayed him. I needed to let Gaara know I wouldn't betray him like that, but how? I moved my hand up to his hand on his head, entwining my fingers with his. He looked at me confused as I moved closer to him, placing his hand over my heart._

_"Do you feel it?" I asked, he nodded. "You're here Gaara, you have a special place in my heart. A place just for you that no one can replace." _

_He didn't seem to understand what I was saying, I felt rather bad for him. I didn't mind explaining it though, I was happy to be helping him. "You're special to me…precious in fact."_

_"Nande?" he asked, not understanding._

_"We're friends Gaara-kun." I told him. "I care about you, and I'm never going to leave you alone." _

_He nodded a little, seeming like he understood what I was saying. _

_"When you're friends with someone, your hearts connect, and you trust each other." _

_He nodded a little bit, it looked like he was beginning to understand everything a little better than before._

_"I…" _

_He stopped, and I gave him a curious look. What was he thinking?_

_"Hai Gaara-kun?" I asked, our eyes locked._

_"I…trust you…Sada."_

_I felt a smile come to my lips and put my arms around Gaara, hugging him tightly. His arms slowly went around me, the hug seeming a little less awkward than it used to. I was so proud that I'd gained his trust like I had. Now, there was nothing that could stop me from helping him overcome his loneliness._

This uniform had damned me, Gaara didn't even know that under this bamboo hat and cloak was his best friend. The best friend that had been there with him through everything, through all his struggles, through his doubts up until the very end. I'd been there for him just as he'd been there for me. But I couldn't let him know now that it was me, he loathed the Akatsuki for the torture they'd put him through. I could easily understand why he would feel that way because at this moment, I was just as much as prisoner of theirs as he had been.

"Kuso." Kisame cursed. "They've spotted us."

"Let's move." Itachi instructed, Kisame nodded in agreement.

Although I knew I would rather stay here and explain everything to Gaara, I knew I couldn't. I had to follow the orders given by my superiors, just as Pein had demanded of me. At this moment, I had to follow what ever orders Itachi gave to me since he _was_ my superior or I could lose the little freedom I had gained in the Akatsuki. And the order at this time, was to escape from Sunagakure. I moved up from my crouched position and broke eye contact with Gaara, bolting across the roof and jumped to another; Itachi and Kisame at my heels. We ran, jumping from building to building. As we drew closer to the main exit, I could see Suna shinobi attempting to surround us. I looked further ahead, there were more shinobi guarding the exit; how would we manage to escape?

"Do we engage in combat?" I inquired as we ran, Itachi shook his head.

"It is best that we avoid it." he replied, Kisame grunted softly in agreement.

"Our techniques are too easily recognized." he stated as we jumped onto another roof, I nodded understanding. "We need to try to keep our identities a secret."

"They already know we're Akatsuki though." I said quietly, easily dodging the kunai that came flying at my head.

"Heh, they don't know which Akatsuki members we are." Kisame countered, I bit my lower lip in thought as more kunai and shuriken came flying at us.

"This way." I instructed, jumping down off the roof.

I landed in a crouched position on the ground and straightened up, my red eyes scanning the alley for any signs of shinobi. Kisame and Itachi landed next to me, I took in a slow breath and head down the alley.

"I know a back exit from being in the Onin squad, we can escape that way." I said softly, Itachi nodded once in approval.

"Well let's get goin then." Kisame chuckled, looking back over his shoulder. "It won't take 'em long to realize where we are."

I nodded in agreement and did some quick handsigns, casting our presence with darkness. It would help keep our presence hidden for the time being, but it wouldn't last too long so I knew we needed to hurry and get to the exit before my jutsu wore off. We ran through the dark alleys of Sunagakure, making our way towards the back part of the village. Hopefully there wouldn't be any shinobi guarding this exit as well, if there were they would more than likely be the Onin or Anbu of the village. If that was the case then we wouldn't be able to avoid a battle, the Anbu and Onin wouldn't let us waltz right through the exit without defeating them. I hated the idea of having to battle against shinobi that had once been my allies and comrades, but there was no way around it anymore. I wasn't in control of my own decisions, I was a puppet of the Akatsuki and Pein was the one pulling the strings.

I felt a small smile come to my lips when the exit came into sight, I didn't see any shinobi guarding the exit. I absentmindedly licked my lips, focusing my thoughts on sensing chakra. I could feel all sorts of chakra scattered around the village, the Suna shinobi were frantic about our presence. There was no chakra at the exit we were facing though, so we needed to hurry and escape because I could feel the chakra of many shinobi heading in our direction. They couldn't sense our chakra, my jutsu was still active but they must've realized they needed to guard all exits to the village if they wanted to capture us.

"That's the exit." I said softly, Itachi nodded.

"We need ta hurry then before the enemy arrives." Kisame commented, I felt a heavy sigh pass through my parted lips.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Let's go." Itachi instructed, heading across the sand.

Kisame and I followed behind him, stealth-fully moving towards the exit. I bowed my head as we walked, I felt my heart breaking the closer we got to the exit. This had been my first and last chance to explain everything to Gaara, and I had failed to do just that. He had our shinobi searching for me, he was trying to find my whereabouts so he could rescue me. He didn't want to accept the idea that I might've been dead, anyone else would have given up searching for me long ago. Temari and Kankuro had given up hope but not Gaara. He was the friend I so longed for years ago, when I had been alone. Both he and Sasuke had changed my life, they were my best friends; the friends I held most precious to me...I'd never see Gaara again and although I didn't want to admit it to myself, there was a chance I would never see Sasuke again.

I felt my chest aching at the thought, tugging at the material of my cloak. I could remember it all so clearly, the conversation that stuck out the most to me between Gaara and myself. The conversation that made me want to turn my back on my fellow Akatsuki members.

"_I'm glad you've returned."_

_I turned my head in his direction, smiling softly at the red head._

"_How could I not want to come back?" I joked, giggling softly. "This village is amazing, and everyone's been so kind and welcoming to me. This is definitely home." _

_I blinked curiously when I saw the small smile on Gaara's lips, tilting my head to the side dumbfounded. Gaara glanced at me, raising an eyebrow when I wrinkled my nose slightly._

"_Nani?" he questioned, I pursed my lips._

"_Why're you smiling like that huh?" I inquired, his smile only grew._

_"You don't know..." he started, I blinked curiously._

_"Nani?" I asked, he smiled softly._

_"You don't know how much it means to me, to hear you say that." he explained, I felt the corners of my mouth turn upward into a smile._

_"I'm only speaking the truth Gaara-kun, this is my home more than anywhere else in the world." I stated, my eyes moving to the sky._

_I smiled softly at the colors streaking through the sky, sunset. I took a seat on the Kage building, pulling my knees to my chest and placed my chin atop my knees. Gaara sat next to me, placing his arm over his leg after setting it upright. We watched the sunset for a few minutes in comfortable silence, neither of us feeling the need to speak. We had always been this way, even back when we became friends during the Chunin Exams. It was as though we didn't need words to communicate with each-other, we just could feel what the other was thinking half the time; that's what made us so close. That...and the fact that our childhoods have many similarities._

_"I'm glad you're back." he repeated after a few minutes; I turned my gaze to him, red eyes meeting sea green ones. "It was hard without you here."_

_"I understand." I said softly. "I missed you."_

_"Me too." he agreed, a smile coming to his lips. "Will you stay in Sunagakure with me?"_

_I blinked dumbly, tilting my head to the side, feeling dumbfounded again. He wanted me to stay in Sunagakure? I was a shinobi of Konohagakure though, I was supposed to return within a year's time...I couldn't do it though. No matter how much I knew I had to go back, I couldn't force myself to do it. Sunagakure was my home, home was were the people that cared about you were...and I had the three of the few people that cared about me right here in this village. I'd write a letter to Tsunade tomorrow, explaining my future and an apology as well for not keeping my word. I couldn't leave though, Gaara needed me and I knew that in return, I needed him as well._

_"Hai, I'll stay." I said, nodding._

_A small smile came to his lips and he carefully placed his arm around my shoulders in a small hug, I smiled a little and turned my attention to the village._

_"We'll rebuild Sunagakure, make it stronger than it's ever been before and make a happier environment for our people. Together." he said, sounding determined; I nodded once._

_"Together, we can do anything." I agreed._

I lowered my eyes sadly, my heart feeling as though it was about to be ripped to shreds. I'd helped rebuild this village, make the people happier, trained the shinobi, and had Gaara standing by my side through it all. Now, I was betryaing the one place I loved in this world. Things would never be able to go back to the way they were. Even if I did manage to escape from the Akatsuki, I'd be leaving behind Deidara and I couldn't bear the thought of not being with him anymore. It was a hard decision, staying here with the people that cared for me or going back to the man I loved. I knew I would never be able to love anyone in Sunagakure more than I loved Deidara, not even if I had a thousand years. Yet, as I head for the exit with my fellow Akatsuki members, I felt as though part of me would always be in Sunagakure. As long as Gaara was alive, I knew I would always be a part of Suna and that felt like it would be enough for me. I'd come here to see if Gaara was alive, he was. I felt like my mind could be in peace because of that. I was ready, I was ready to return to Amegakure...to Deidara.

"Kuso." Kisame cursed, snapping me back to reality.

I looked up from the sandy earth, my red orbs widened in shock when I saw the Suna shinobi surrounding our intended exit, the gates slammed shut. I stood frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do. I couldn't perform another jutsu to knock them unconscious, not with it already in affect in the village. We were officially screwed, it looked like this was a battle we'd be unable to avoid. I glanced at Kisame, his hand was reaching back towards his same-hada. I looked to Itachi for instruction at Kisame's movement, I could see his Sharingan eyes activated under his bamboo hat. It looked as though he was thinking along the same lines as the shark shinobi. I felt a heavy sigh pass through my parted lips, mentally preparing myself for the battle.

"Akatsuki, stop where you are and surrender. You're completely surrounded." an Anbu said, I glanced around to see that he was correct; we had no way of escape.

"Heh." Kisame grunted; I glanced over to see a sadistic smirk on his blue lips.

"We did not come here for a battle." Itachi said coldly, my eyes flicked to the elder Uchiha in confusion; what was he trying to do? "Step aside and let us pass or you will die."

The Suna shinobi didn't budge, they weren't going to let us pass without a fight. It looked as though I wouldn't be able to get by with being a pacifist, they were silently refusing to let us through, therefore...they were all going to die; whether I wanted them to or not.

"Heh, I've been looking forward to this." Kisame mumbled, pulling his same-hada off his back.

Itachi moved his hand to his hat, preparing to use his Sharingan on the shinobi if need be. I lowered my eyes, my hand absentmindedly moving to the crystal hanging around my neck. The crystal my best friend had given me before we were seperated, the only thing I had left to hold onto his memory, the one thing that had held me together throughout years of physical and mental torture.

'Haku.'

I glanced up towards the dark heavens, clutching the crystal tighter.

'Help me Haku, please.'

"Take care of them." Itachi ordered, Kisame chuckled quietly.

'Please Haku.'

"With pleasure." Kisame agreed with a nod of his head, taking a step towards the Suna shinobi.

'Help me!'

"Akatsuki."

I blinked at the sound of his voice, my eyes moving from the sky to his face. No...not this...not _him_. Sea green met red, I felt my stomach tightening in knots...Gaara.

"Heh, so it looks as though the Kazekage won't let us pass either." Kisame chortled, I felt my stomach tightening at the sight of him.

I looked around the area, we were surrounded again by the shinobi of Sunagakure. There was no way of escape now, no way to avoid confrontation. I lowered my head at the thought, so many lives would end here...the lives of my former comrades.

"Kill all who stand in our way." Itachi ordered, my eyes narrowed in anger.

No, I would not fail to protect Gaara this time. I refused to let him be murdered again by the hands of the Akatsuki, even if my orders were to obey everything Itachi and Kisame said, this was the one thing I refused to do. There was only one way to save all these lives, only one way to protect my best friend and I knew it would haunt my dreams for a long time to come...but it was the only thing I could do to keep Sunagakure's shinobi safe.

I took a breath and pushed passed Itachi and Kisame, taking steps towards the shinobi who had once been my allies. They all moved into a fighting stance as I approached, I could make out the sand moving out of the gourd Gaara had strapped to his back.

"Kid, I'll handle this." Kisame said from behind me, I shook my head.

I stopped a few yards away from the shinobi, moving my hand to my bamboo hat. A heavy sigh passed through my parted lips and I gripped my bamboo hat, a few stray tears slipping down my cheeks.

'Gomenasai Gaara-kun.'

I removed my hat from my head, shaking my hair out of my face; my red eyes locking with Gaara's sea green ones. The sand dropped to the ground, the shinobi shifted slightly, their faces stunned.

"Sada-dono." one of them whispered.

"I thought she was dead." another said quietly.

"She's with Akatsuki." another stated, sounding shocked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, keeping my gaze locked with the Kazekage.

"Sada." he whispered, I nodded.

"Please let us pass." I asked of him. "We don't want to kill you or your shinobi, Kazekage-sama."

"Sada-chan."

"Gomenasai Kazekage-sama." I said, trying to keep myself as emotionless as possible. "I tried to save you...I was too late though."

"You've been alive...this whole time...with _them_." he said, sounding shocked; I nodded in agreement.

"Hai."

"Nande Sada!" he yelled. "You betrayed us!"

I lowered my eyes, sadness consuming me. He was right, I'd betrayed Sunagakure...my home...my allies...my friends...Gaara. I didn't even have the heart to try and argue with him, I felt so broken right now. I didn't know what to say, I glanced up at him to see anger flashing through his eyes. He hated me, he hated me for what I'd done. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't blame him.

"How could you?" he screamed. "I trusted you! You were my right hand on everything, how could you betray me like this?"

"I didn't want to!" I yelled, tears rolling down my cheeks. "They were going to destroy Suna if I didn't join them! I'm sorry Gaara but I wasn't going to let our people die to save my own skin!"

Gaara's eyes widened in shock at my words, I could feel my body trembling at the memory of Pein's words.

_'If you do not join Akatsuki willingly, then I will send the Akatsuki to destroy Sunagakure and kill all those who inhabit it.'_

"You did this...to save Sunagakure?" he said, I nodded in agreement.

"I wasn't going to let my home be destroyed." I stated. "Even if that meant being allies with the enemy."

Gaara didn't say anything, he looked like he didn't have the heart to say anything else. He knew what I'd done was wrong but at the same time, he knew it'd been the right thing for me to do to save our people. He would've done the same thing had he been in my position and I knew that for a fact. No more words were exchanged for a few minutes, the Suna shinobi were waiting for an order from Gaara. Gaara on the other hand, didn't look like he knew what to do. I bit down on my lowerlip, pulling one of my sais off my sides. I held it loosely at my side, staring at the Kazekage.

"Please let us pass Gaara-kun...I don't want to fight you." I pleaded.

"You joined the enemy, I can't just let you go Sada." Gaara said; I could see the pain flashing through his eyes, he wanted to let me go...but he knew he couldn't.

"I figured as much." I said sadly. "I don't want to do this but I have to follow my orders, gomenasai."

"Me too." Gaara agreed, sand began swirling all around the Suna shinobi.

I took a slow breath, blinking dumbly when I noticed something that was only visible to me. My Night Vision allowed me to see in the dark, see details that most shinobi couldn't...and I was shocked at what I was seeing. In Gaara's sand were letters...that were spelling out instructions.

_TAKE ME HOSTAGE, ESCAPE._

'Gaara-kun...arigato.'

I ran at the Suna shinobi, phasing through the sandy ground in the blink of an eye. I appeared behind Gaara, grabbing his arm and holding my weapon to his throat. The Suna shinobi gasped, moving away from us at the sight of the Kazekage being captive.

"You'll let us pass." I ordered; Gaara nodded slightly.

"Open the gates." he instructed, the gates opened up at once at the order.

I heard Kisame chuckle as he and Itachi approached us, I moved backwards with Gaara, still holding the sai to his throat.

"Gomenasai." I whispered.

"I'll rescue you Sada, I promise." Gaara mumbled so only I could hear, I nodded.

"Arigato."

We kept moving towards the exit, the Suna shinobi watching us with wary eyes as I dragged the Kazekage towards the exit. We had finally made it to the exit, Itachi and Kisame passed through at once. Kisame kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to pull it off his back if any shinobi tried to attack me.

"Let's go." Itachi ordered, I nodded once.

"Arigato for the hospitality Kazekage-sama." I said sweetly, I could've sworn Gaara had a smirk on his face as I shoved him back into the village; the shinobi rushed to his aid.

I ran behind Kisame and Itachi, putting my bamboo hat back on my head as we crossed the desert at rapid speed. Once we made it a good distance from the village, we took shelter for the night in a small cave we'd come across. Kisame lit a fire and I sat down near it, taking my hat off my head. He took a seat next to me as he handed me my dinner and dug into his own food; Itachi stared at the fire in silence, not touching his food.

"Heh, that was a nice move ya' pulled kiddo." Kisame praised, I felt a smile come to my lips at the compliment.

"Arigato Kisame-san." I said, shrugging my shoulder nonchalently. "It just kinda came to me though."

"Thinkin' on your feet, leader-sama will be impressed with ya'." he said.

"You think so?" I asked, he nodded in agreement.

"It was your first mission and ya did pretty much all the work kiddo, he'll be impressed." he laughed, I felt my smile widen. "Dontcha think so Itachi-san?"

I moved my eyes to the elder Uchiha, his onyx ones met my red ones from across the fire. He stared at me for a moment, looking deep in thought before he said

"This is the exact reason leader-sama did not assign her a partner, she doesn't need one."

I tilted my head to the sign, feeling extremely confused by his words. I didn't need a partner? Did Pein see something in me that even _I _didn't see?

"Leader-sama feels that the girl is capable of completing mission on her own, without the help of other members. She was assigned to this mission with us not because she needed us, but because we needed her." Itachi explained in his normal cool tone.

"Demo...Itachi-san."

Itachi's eyes met mine again, I chewed on my lowerlip before continuing.

"I'm nothing special Itachi-san...you could've done this without me. You both have far more shinobi experience than I could ever dream of, you could've completed it faster without me. I feel like I just got in your way."

Itachi shook his head, which greatly surprised me. I glanced at Kisame, he merely chuckled.

"Itachi-san's good at seeing that kinda thing in shinobi." he told me, I blinked dumbly. "He's a hard shinobi to impress but when ya impress him, ya impress him."

I nodded a little, looking back at Itachi.

"You're the reason we got out of Sunagakure as soon as we did. If it had been Kisame and myself, there would be dead bodies everywhere and hours before we would have escaped." he said coldly, Kisame nodded in agreement.

"Like that's a bad thing though." he chortled. "Didn't even get any action during this lousy mission."

"It was an observation, battle is prohibited." Itachi retorted.

Kisame scoffed in displeasure, I almost smiled at that. He was almost exactly like Zabuza-sama when it came to his love for battle and carnage. I supposed that's why I enjoyed Kisame's company so much, he reminded me of my former master so much at times...that I felt like I was that young child again, yearning for my master's praise and approval. As a child, I'd had a hard time getting Zabuza-sama to notice me. I hadn't been a prodigy like my fellow subordinate Haku, which made it harder for me to gain my masters respect. But that had made me work ten times harder to receive it and it made me a dedicated shinobi, if Zabuza hadn't been so hard on me growing up...I wouldn't be the shinobi I was today.

"Heh, well next time will be different hopefully." Kisame complained, I felt a smile come to my lips again.

I finally began eating my food, listening to Kisame and Itachi's short conversations. They didn't have long detailed conversations really, but Itachi seemed more inclined to talk to Kisame rather than any of the other members. It was weird but Itachi seemed like he actually enjoyed Kisame's company...in his own cold way. I felt like I could be more comfortable around Itachi now that I'd forced myself to let go of my grudge against him, he didn't seem like he was _too _terribly bad of a person...even if he was a criminal.

"Itachi-san." I said, abrubtly stopping Kisame's words; Itachi's eyes moved to mine. "Gomenasai Itachi-san, about attacking you that day. It wasn't my place. Your and Sasuke's problems are none of my business and I apologize."

Kisame tilted his head, looking confused when Itachi nodded. So that must've been Itachi's way of saying he forgave me. I felt a smile come to my lips and nodded once, mentally thanking him for giving me another chance. I glanced at the shark like shinobi, almost giggling when I saw the confused look on his face. I guessed the elder Uchiha didn't forgive people often, that must've been why Kisame was so shocked.

"Get some rest, we leave before dawn." Itachi ordered, we both nodded.

I moved my eyes to the exit of the cave, managing to see the dark sky. I smiled slightly and tilted my head to the side, placing my cheek on my knees; I couldn't wait to get back to Deidara.

* * *

_**Author's Note: And chapter fourteen is finally up after a long time worth of waiting. I'm so sorry it took so long too guys. I've had alot of shit going on in my life the passed couple of months but thankfully I'm passed all that now and I can continue with my writing. I hope this chapter was worth the long ass wait. Review and let me know what you thought. Liked it, loved it, hated it? I don't care, let me know. I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability at the end of the next chapter. And hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to finish. Writers block sucks guys, really does. But thank you for waiting and being so loyal guys.**_

_**Lots of love!**_

_**Eva :)**_


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Home Again

Chapter Fifteen

_Amegakure; Akatsuki Headquarters: Sada, Itachi, Kisame_

"Finally back." Kisame grunted, removing his bamboo hat from his head.

I nodded in agreement, mimicking his actions. I walked down the hallway between the two men, playing with my necklace in thought. Now that we were back, I didn't know what was going to happen. Kisame had said Pein would be impressed by how I did on our mission, but I wasn't all too sure about that. I highly doubted Pein would be impressed with the fact that I barely did anything throughout our mission. A few jutsu here and there, not very impressive.

"We need to report to leader-sama before dinner." Itachi stated, Kisame groaned.

"Damn Konan-san and her wishes." he complained, I tilted my head to the side.

"Nani?" I inquired, feeling confused; Kisame groaned again.

"Even if we've been out for a mission, we still have to join the rest of the organization for meals." he grumbled, I wrinkled my nose.

"It's only dinner though Kisame-san and it _is _Itachi-san's day to cook. So Konan-san will be cooking tonight since she doesn't know we've arrived back already." I pointed out, Kisame's face lit up with a smirk.

"Heh, you're right kid. Can't wait for her cooking, it's the damn best." he stated, I giggled quietly in agreement; Konan was the best cook in the world.

I blinked curiously, stopping in-between the men as Itachi knocked on the door. A few seconds passed, then a cold voice.

"Come in, Itachi, Kisame, Sada."

I felt a shiver run up my spine, wishing that didn't happen _every _time Pein spoke. Itachi opened the door, walking inside. I followed behind him as silent as a shadow, Kisame bringing up the rear. We all stood side by side, bowing in respect as the door shut behind us. Pein turned his chair to face us and I glanced up at him through my bangs, moving out of my bow when he waved his hand.

"Report."

"Zetsu was correct leader-sama." Itachi said, getting straight to the point. "The fifth Kazekage was resurected from the dead."

Pein nodded, his eyes going cold at the words. I lightly chewed the inside of my jaw, still trying to figure out how that was even possible. Who would have the skills to reverse death, who would have the power to play Kami?

"How could this be?" Pein mused; I blinked dumbly when I remembered the conversation.

_"Ugh this is ridiculous Temari! I'm going insane." I whined, Temari laughed heartily._

_"You'll be fine." she assured, I groaned loudly._

_"Demo Temari!" I complained, pouting angrily. "Gaara's making me do too much, I can't handle all this."_

_She raised her eyebrow, not looking very convinced. Damn...this is what I got for being too nice of a person and offering to help with anything all the time. I should've known better by now but I guess my brain didn't care if it was loaded down with all sorts of work. I was never going to have any free time._

_"Sada."_

_I glanced at Temari, almost glaring when I saw the smirk on her lips and face planted into my mattress._

_"Nani?" I asked, my voice muffled by the sheets; she giggled quietly._

_"Gaara wouldn't ask you to do everything he has if he didn't think you could handle it" she said, I moved my face out of the mattress._

_"Temari, I haven't been a Jounin four months yet and Gaara wants me to take over a Genin squad! I'm not ready for this." I groaned, she sighed quietly._

_"You are, trust me."_

_"I don't believe that for a second with your tone of voice." I teased, she chuckled softly._

_"Yeah yeah, just read your book." she joked, I rolled my eyes before turning my attention back to it._

_"Temari, quick question." I said after a few minutes worth of silence; Temari grinned at me, saying_

_"Okay, shoot."_

_I wrinkled my nose, holding the book out to her I was studying. She furrowed her brow in concentration, looking over the page I'd been reading. I was currently trying to read up on all sorts of medical ninjutsu since the Chunin Exams weren't too far off, Gaara had informed me that he wanted me to take over the training of some of our most talented Genin in Sunagakure. The squad in question had lost their sensei recently and Gaara had assigned me as their replacement until someone more suitable could take my place since I wouldn't be in Sunagakure during the Exams; I'd be traveling the world around that time. It was slightly ridiculous in my opinion since I'd only been staying in Sunagakure for less than five months but I wasn't going to argue with Gaara's decision. What he said, goes._

_"Huh, so...what's your question?" she asked; I wrinkled my nose angily, did we read the same thing or was she just screwing with me?_

_"Who's this Chiyo-sama?" I asked, Temari rolled her eyes._

_"One of the Elders of Sunagakure Sada, she's a medical genius." she stated, I played with a strand of my hair curiously. "Chiyo-sama even created a jutsu that can bring the dead back to life."_

_I blinked dumbly, brought the dead back to life? How was that even possible?_

_"How?" I asked; information like this was something I was greatly interested in, maybe I could bring back Haku and Zabuza-sama._

_"It's a life transferance. The shinobi in question, transfers their life force to that of the dead person. That brings the shinobi back to life, but it has a down side. The other shinobi-"_

_"Dies because they transferred their life force to the dead. They give it up, their life...to save anothers." I finished, Temari nodded in agreement._

_"Chiyo-sama has used the jutsu once before, but the person wasn't dead yet. They were just dying, which is why she didn't lose her life." she explained, I nodded a little._

_"So do you think Chiyo-sama would be willing to meet with me and teach me medical jutsu?" I inquired, Temari shook her head._

_"There's no way, she's retired and refuses to have anything to do with the shinobi world anymore." she explained, I huffed angrily._

_"Guess I've got to do this the hard way then." I complained, Temari laughed._

_"Well at least you aren't dead." she joked._

_"Haha, if I was then maybe Chiyo-sama would bring me back to life." I giggled._

"Leader-sama." I said softly, all eyes turned their attention to me. "In Sunagakure, their was an Elder that created a jutsu to bring the dead back to life. It was a life transference, one life for another."

"How very interesting." Pein mused, I played with a strand of my hair nervously. "Continue."

"The mission itself was a success leader-sama." the elder Uchiha said. "We managed to escape Sunagakure without engaging in combat. However, we did not manage to stay undetected."

Pein nodded, not looking very pleased with this news. I bit my lowerlip nervously, hoping that I wouldn't be punished for revealing my identity. If I was, I didn't even want to imagine what kind of punishment I would receive.

"Sada is the reason we managed to escape." Itachi said, I felt my stomach drop.

'Please don't let my punishment be physical torture...please.'

"She took the Kazekage hostage, leaving the Suna shinobi no choice but to let us escape."

Pein's eyes moved to mine, I swallowed the lump in my throat nervously. Why didn't Itachi tell him I revealed my identity? Was he trying to silently thank me for appologizing to him? I was greatly surprised when the Akatsuki leader chuckled softly, nodding in approvement.

"Job well done Sada." he said, I blinked dumbly at the praise.

"Ano...arigato leader-sama." I said softly, he chuckled again.

"For proving your loyalty in such a...creative way, you will not have the bracelet re-attached to your wrist." he said, I felt a small smile come to my lips.

"Arigato." I repeated, he nodded once.

"Dismissed."

We all bowed respectfully, exiting the room as instructed. I let out a heavy sigh as we head down the hallway, rubbing my arm nervously. Why had Itachi covered for me like that? Did he think revealing my identity wasn't a big deal? I glanced at the Sharingan user curiously, he paid no mind to my curious looks. I glanced at Kisame, hoping maybe he would say something about it. He merely yawned quietly, stretching his arms above his head. It looked as though he didn't care about Itachi's lack of report. I sighed again when I saw my room in sight, Kisame moved his eyes to mine.

"Guess I'll see ya at dinner then kid." he said; I smiled a little when he ruffled my hair.

"Hai Kisame-san."

I waved and entered my room, closing the door behind me. I walked over to my bed, falling face first. I sighed in bliss, I'd missed my bed and I was so utterly tired. But I knew I couldn't miss dinner or Konan wouldn't be too happy with me, so I pushed myself up from the mattress. I quickly unpacked my bags, arranging all the contents in my trunk. I smiled slightly when I came across the puppet scroll Sasori had given me, making a mental note to myself to inspect it tomorrow. I placed everything inside my trunk, shutting it and threw my cloak off. I shook my hair out of my face and head across the floor of my room, out the door. I walked down the hallway silently, wondering if anyone was at dinner already. I shrugged my shoulders to myself and entered the dining room.

"You look like a fucking girl so how did you manage to get the only fucking one here blondie!"

I narrowed my eyes, Hidan of course.

"Hidan, enough!"

Kakuzu, he sounded pissed.

"Fuck no dickface! This shit pisses me off!"

"Fuck off Hidan hm. She's mine and if you so much as look at her when she gets back I'll blow your ass up hm!"

I smiled to myself, my love; Deidara.

"Brat, shut up."

Sasori, he didn't sound like he was awake enough for all this arguing.

I rolled my eyes to myself and walked further into the dining room, all heads turned in my direction at the sound of my footsteps. I felt my cheeks heat up when Deidara's blue eye met my red ones from across the room, a wide grin stretched across his lips.

"Sada-chan." he exclaimed, moving up from his seat.

I smiled slightly, he crossed the room to me and pulled me into his arms. I blushed darker when his lips pressed against my forehead, cuddling close to the blonde artist.

"I missed you Dei." I whispered, looking up at him through my bangs.

"I missed you too love." he agreed, I felt my cheeks heat up even more when he pressed his lips against mine.

"Jashin this sucks dick!" Hidan exclaimed; I pulled out of the kiss, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Deidara grinned cheekily at me, leading me over to the table with his arm securely wrapped around my waist. I took a seat in-between Sasori and Deidara, blushing darly again when Deidara moved my hand to his lips, lightly kissing my knuckles. I lowered my eyes, my face was burning red.

"How'd your mission go?" Sasori inquired; I turned my attention to him, my face still feeling hot.

"Fine." I whispered. "Leader-sama isn't making me wear the bracelet anymore so I guess I did a decent job."

"What was the mission love hm?" Deidara inquired, I lowered my eyes sadly.

"An observe and report." I said softly. "He's...alive."

Deidara looked at me curiously, not understanding what I was talking about. I turned my gaze to the other Akatsuki members, they all seemed like they wanted to know what I was talking about. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down and said

"Sunagakure no Kazekage is alive, Gaara-"

"That fucking Jinchuuriki we just extracted the Bijuu from?" Hidan interupted, I nodded slightly.

"He was brought back to life." I confirmed, I glanced at Sasori to see his eyes turn dark at my words.

"That old hag." he grumbled.

"Nani Sasori-san?" I asked, wondering if he knew the Chiyo woman that had brought Gaara back to life.

I blinked dumbly when Sasori chuckled quietly, turning his gaze to meet mine. I tilted my head to the side, feeling especially confused. What was going through his head?

"Chiyo right?" he inquired, I nodded; he chuckled softly again. "That old hag's my baa-san."

I blinked dumbly, Chiyo was Sasori's grandmother?

"Demo, it hasn't mattered to me for years. Except that she's the only one that's ever known my secrets to my puppet making, now no one will ever know." he chortled, sounding amused.

I nodded once, understanding to a point why he would be happy to have her dead. If she was the only person in the world other than Sasori that knew about his human puppet technique then that would mean no one would know his secrets since she was dead. The only way anyone else in the world would know of his techniques would be if he passed them down to a subordinate. Sasori didn't seem like the type that would want a subordinate though, especially since half the people around him got on his nerves all the time.

I moved my eyes across the table to Deidara, he smiled softly at me. I could see in his visible eye that he was happy Gaara was alive again, it looked like the weight of killing my best friend was finally lifted off his shoulders. I could also see though, that he was worried for me. He knew it was going to hurt me for a long time that I could never see my best friend as anything but enemies. I took his hand and lightly squeezed it, trying to show him I would be alright. He nodded once, the small smile still playing on his lips. I felt my cheeks go warm and looked in the direction of the door. Kisame and Itachi had finally made it to dinner. Kisame grinned at me, he and Itachi taking seats across the table.

"So did our lil kunoichi tell ya what an amazing job she did during our mission?" he joked, I felt my cheeks go warm in embarrassment.

"Kisame-san don't." I asked of him, he merely grinned that toothy grin at me.

"Did she do well then?" Kakuzu inquired, Kisame nodded.

"Quite the talented and intellectual kunoichi we have here. Took the Kazekage hostage so we could escape." he boasted, I bit my lowerlip nervously.

Itachi nodded in agreement with Kisame's statement, saying

"She was the reason we did not have to engage in combat or reveal our identities."

I squeezed Deidara's hand when he narrowed his eye at Itachi and leaned my head against his shoulder, looking up at him through my bangs. He looked down into my eyes, smiling when I placed a soft kiss on his cheek. I turned my attention back to Kisame as he talked about our mission to the others, smiling when Deidara wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Her darkness style jutsu was fuckin' sick." Kisame was saying. "Didn't know it'd be such a help to us until she used it."

"It must've been quite the andvantage for your mission." Sasori said, running a hand through his bright red hair. "It's curious how darkness style works."

I moved my eyes to Sasori, seeing the inquisitive look in his eyes. Deidara was the only one I'd ever explained my jutsu to and how it worked, Zabuza had been the one to do research on my village to teach me how to use it properly. Other than those two and Haku, no one other than my fellow Kuraigakure shinobi knew how it worked. I guessed it would be good for me to explain to the rest of the Akatsuki how it worked. Since I didn't have a partner, I knew I would more than likely just be assigned to accompany other members on their missions and they would need to know how my techniques worked.

"Darkness style jutsu." I started, all eyes turned their attention to me. "Is an advantage during the night, a disadvantage during the day. A double edged sword so to speak."

"How so?" Kakuzu inquired, I bit my lower lip in thought.

"During the night, everything is covered in darkness. Kuraigakure shinobi are able to manipulate the darkness, using it in the construction of our jutsu. Kuraigakure itself is covered in darkness, we have no sun...no light in my village. If you don't count the fake light."

"Fake light?" Kisame repeated, sounding confused.

"Electricity." I explained. "Demo, our disadvantage is outside of our village, during the day when there is no darkness to manipulate."

"Then how the fuck do you shits manage to use it during the day?" Hidan asked, I almost narrowed my eyes at his rude tone of voice.

"Shadows are one way." I answered. "Demo, when there's no shadow's to manipulate...we are at our most vunarable. In order to use our jutsu during the day, we have to close our eyes to perform our jutsu. It's the only darkness available during the day."

"And with closing your eyes, comes the disadvantage of not seeing your enemies and only relying on your hearing." Sasori guessed, I nodded in agreement.

"That's insane hm." Deidara said, playing that he didn't know anything about my jutsu. "Doesn't it scare you Sada-chan?"

"Sometimes." I replied, biting my lowerlip in thought. "Zabuza-sama was all about teaching me in the way of the Swordsmen though, using silent killing tactics and relying on all the senses rather than just sight. It was the best way for him to teach me since I had to close my eyes to perform my jutsu."

"Heh, well he taught ya well then." Kisame praised, I smiled widely at him.

"Ano...Kisame-san. Do you think...you could help me do something?" I questioned, everyone looked at me curiously.

"Sure kid, name it."

"Ano...Zabuza-sama's Kubikiri Bōchō-"

"You wanna go retrieve it aye?" he finished, I nodded.

"Hai, it's rightfully mine Kisame-san. I'd feel more comfortable having one of the swordsmen with me though. As a form of respect for Zabuza-sama." I said quietly, he nodded in agreement.

"We'll ask Konan-san about it." Kisame said; I nodded in agreement, silently thanking him.

"Dinner's ready!" Konan yelled from the kitchen; I felt a smile come to my lips at the sound of the blue haired woman's voice, I'd missed Konan.

"Come on love." Deidara said, I felt a blush set on my cheeks when he kissed my forehead.

We all head across the floor, towards the kitchen. Hidan was spewing curses towards Kakuzu as we walked, I felt my eye twitch in annoyance. It probably would've been better to be back if Hidan wasn't here.

"Hidan shut up!" Konan screamed through the door, I felt a smile come to my lips.

Konan would make damn sure Hidan shut his loud ass mouth.

* * *

_**Author's Note: Ta Da! I told you guys you wouldn't have to wait oober long for this chapter to be out. Yeah it wasn't too terribly eventful but the Akatsuki needed some family time after all. Plus, this chapter is relevant for future ones, there's a few things that were mentioned that will show up in future chapters. If you have a guess as to what they were, review and take a guess :) The next chapter will hopefully be out in about a week or so. Thanks for reading guys and let me know what you thought.**_

_**Lots of love**_

_**Eva**_


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Tamotsu

Chapter Sixteen

* * *

_AMEGAKURE, AKATSUKI HEADQUARTERS; SADA_

* * *

"Really Konan-san? Arigato." I exclaimed, a huge smile coming to my lips.

She smiled warmly at me, patting the top of my head. I smiled brightly, feeling so happy that I had Konan here with me. She was the most amazing woman I'd ever met in my life and the more time I spent with her, the more I enjoyed her company. We had a friendship, rather than a professional relationship and this seemed to suit both of us just fine. About two weeks ago, I'd asked Konan if it would be possible for Kisame and I to go to Nami no Kuni to recovered Zabuza-sama's Kubikiri Bōchō. She promised me she'd discuss it with Pein and would give me an answer as soon as possible, to my great surprise she'd managed to convince him into it. I couldn't help but smile about it, I'd needed to visit my master's grave for a good while and now I'd be able to; I was ecstatic. Especially with the fact that one of the seven legendary swords would be in the right hands, rather than being forgotten.

"Arigato Konan-san, you don't know how much this means to me." I told her, another smile came to my lips.

"Your very welcome Sada-san." she said, a smile on her lips as well.

"Did leader-sama say when we could leave?" I inquired, she nodded.

"In four days, when Kakuzu and Hidan arrive back." she said, I pursed my lips.

"Why do we have to wait so long? Couldn't we just go now?" I inquired, she giggled quietly at my impatience.

"Pein doesn't want too many members out at one time." she explained, I lowered my eyes sadly.

"Nande?"

"Sada-san, you have to remember that we are a criminal organization. We need to move undetected as much as possible. Having too many of us out at one time would arouse suspicion, especially with our most recent movements." she told me, I bowed my head at her words; I hated to admit it but she was right.

"I guess you're right." I murmured, she patted the top of my head again.

"Just relax, you'll be out of here in no time." she said, I felt a smile come to my lips.

"Arigato Konan-san."

"Your welcome dear." she said, I felt the smile on my lips widen. "Now get going, you have training."

"Hai Konan-san." I said with a nod.

I bounced up from Konan's bed, heading across the floor and out the door. I walked down the hallway, playing with a few strands of my hair in thought. What could I work on today during training? Deidara knew most of my jutsu by heart, I wanted to surprise him with something new. I bit my lowerlip in thought, trying to think of a jutsu I hadn't worked on in a long time. I blinked dumbly when a thought popped in my head, almost cursing myself for not making my mental note a written one. If I had just wrote it down rather than trying to remember it, then I could've been working on that the passed couple of weeks instead of my ninjutsu. I quickly ran down the hallway, skidding to a stop infront of my room and pulled open the door. I ran over to my trunk, jerking it open and rummaged through the contents before I came across the scroll Tamotsu was sealed inside. Sasori had given me this puppet before I'd left for my first mission in Sunagakure, he said it was a puppet made by the Kuraigakure shinobi...my people. I'd work on this today, I didn't have the slightest idea how our puppets were different than others but I guessed I would find out.

I grabbed the scroll and head out of my room, down the hallway to the training room. I opened the door, stepping inside. I wasn't surprised to see Deidara had beat me here, Sasori could be quite bossy when it came to the blonde's daily training. I smiled a little, shutting the door behind me. Sasori and Deidara looked in my direction, I waved a little.

"Ooi Sada-chan!" Deidara exclaimed, sounding like he hadn't seen me in years.

I giggled softly and crossed the room to his side, smiling when he wrapped his arms around my waist. I felt my cheeks heat up when he kissed my forehead lovingly, blushing darker when I saw the smirk on Sasori's face.

"Konnichiwa." he said smoothly, I felt my face burn hotter.

"Konnichiwa Sasori-san." I mumbled, feeling all the more embarrassed.

Deidara chuckled softly and lightly pressed his lips against mine in quick kiss. I grumbled quietly, hating how kiss deprived I'd been lately and turned my attention to the red head. Sasori was in charge of my training and had been since I'd been brought to Akatsuki, he normally had me and Deidara train together because he thought training us separately would take too much of his time. I was very happy that Sasori was in charge of my training at this moment, hopefully he'd be able to give me information on Tamotsu; I didn't have the slightest idea how to start.

"So what do you want to work on today Sada-chan hm?" Deidara asked, I played with the scroll nervously.

"Tamotsu." I said, Sasori's eyes lit up.

"This is something she'll need to work with me on today Deidara." Sasori said, taking a few steps closer to us.

Deidara grumbled quietly, not seeming like he was too happy about it and I pressed my lips against his cheek once.

"Gomenasai Dei, Sasori's the only puppeteer here and I need his help." I apologized, he nodded a little but still didn't look too happy about it.

"It's fine love."

"Stay, please."

He nodded in agreement and I slipped out of his arms, taking a few steps towards Sasori. I handed him the scroll when he held his hand out, trying to focus all my attention on him. He studied the scroll for a moment, looking deep in thought before he said

"Have you ever used a puppet in battle before?"

I shook my head, Sasori didn't look too surprised by my answer. He sighed softly, I could tell by the look on his face he deeply wished he was able to use Tamotsu in battle. It must've been a really beautiful and fascinating puppet, I'd never seen Sasori look so downhearted before.

"Unlike the usual circumstances, that won't be a problem." he started, I blinked curiously. "Normally, a shinobi must focus their chakra into thin lines to connect with the puppet and control it during battle."

"Chakra strings." I said easily, he nodded in agreement.

"This puppet is quite unusual, I've attempted to control it with chakra strings but to no avail." he said, I bit my lowerlip in thought. "They won't connect, which makes me all the more curious how your people control them."

"I don't know." I murmured, wishing I could be of more help. "There aren't very many documents or books about Kuraigakure, and I wasn't there during the time that I could've learned about our shinobi's abilities."

He nodded, not seeming very surprised with my answer. He looked at the scroll again, saying

"The most I can do is summon the puppet, after that you'll have to figure out how it needs to be controlled."

I nodded a little, hoping I could figure it out. It would be quite a challenge though, especially since I didn't have the slightest idea how to start. I guessed the only chance I had was to improvise...but how could I do that if I didn't know what I was doing? I sighed quietly, trying to think about my people's abilities. We were the only shinobi in the world that could control and manipulate darkness, there was one. Apparently our puppets could only be controlled by our shinobi, there's two. And that meant that since we controlled darkness and our puppets could only be controlled by us, that must've meant that...

'Darkness...that's the key to controlling our puppets...but how does it work?'

I thought for a moment, trying to piece it together. Puppets were controlled by chakra strings and since this was a Kuraigakure puppet, it was controlled by darkness. So maybe the way I controlled it was through a complex way of chakra strings and darkness combined. I blinked dumbly, thinking that might've been the key way to control the puppet. I closed my eyes, trying to figure out how I could combine the two into one jutsu. A sigh passed through my lips in frustration, how could I do this?

"Are you ready?" Sasori inquired, I shook my head.

"Give me a minute." I asked of him, opening my eyes.

He nodded and I wrinkled my nose, trying to figure this out. Maybe I could use my Spheres of Darkness to control the puppet, I'd have to do it all mentally but that was the only thing coming to mind right now. Maybe if I made them combine with the puppet, then I'd be able to control it. I took a slow breath and made the handsigns, five of my spheres appearing. I held my hand into another handsign, focusing.

"You can summon Tamotsu." I said, Sasori nodded.

I watched as Sasori opened the scroll, a puff of...black smoke? Then, there was Tamotsu.

I tilted my head to the side, this was Tamotsu? I turned to Sasori, feeling very confused. This puppet, didn't look anything like any puppet I'd ever seen before. It was, in fact, very human like. I looked back to the puppet, tilting my head to the side again. It was a male puppet, standing at a height of 5'11. He had black hair that hung to his shoulders, very choppy looking. His bangs swooped across his forehead, barely covering his deep red eyes. He had light ivory colored skin and had a smaller body frame, all his muscles were just toned and compatible with his body. He was dressed simply in black pants and a black elbow sleeved top, with shinobi sandals. He had a headband hanging around his neck, the sign of Kuraigakure. He had no signs of being a puppet, no plastic limbs or anything of the sort. He didn't even appear to have any weapons on him. I turned back to Sasori, feeling all the more confused.

"Sasori-san…" I started, he nodded.

"He doesn't look like a normal puppet." he finished, I nodded.

"He's very human like danna." Deidara stated, I nodded in agreement.

"Like I said before, your people must have a different way of developing puppets. I've never seen one of this making, not even mine look even similar to this." Sasori explained, I licked my lips in thought.

"I don't see how I'm supposed to control it then. I was going to use my spheres but I don't think that's going to work now." I said, scratching the back of my head.

Sasori nodded, motioning me over to Tamotsu with him. I walked closer, standing next to Sasori. I wrinkled my nose, watching as he pulled up the puppet's shirt. I stared over the marking on the puppet's back, also my home village's symbol. I glanced up at Sasori through my bangs, feeling even more confused.

"Does this mean anything to you?" he asked, I nodded.

"It's my village symbol, the mark of darkness." I stated.

"Do you think that may have something to do with how to control him?" Sasori asked, I shrugged.

"I honestly have no idea, I really know nothing of my people's puppets." I admitted, feeling all the more useless. "I was a young child when I left my home village, the only reason I know any of my jutsu is because of Zabuza-sama."

Sasori nodded, understanding why I was of no help. It made me feel awful though, like I was a huge disgrace to my people and my village. Although I knew it wasn't my fault, I still felt like I should be able to know it without thinking. Like I should already have it programmed in my head what I needed to do. I sighed heavily, wishing I knew what to do. I felt a small smile come to my lips when Deidara wrapped his arm around my shoulders in a loose hug, feeling better instantly.

"Maybe we should try this a different day Sada." Sasori said, I looked up at him through my bangs. "Perhaps I can dig deeper and research your people's techniques, see if I can come up with anything."

"There aren't many documents on my village though." I said, licking my lips. "I wouldn't know where to tell you to even look for them, most people don't even know Kuraigakure exists."

"We'll figure something out Sada-chan, don't worry hm." Deidara said, kissing the side of my head.

I nodded, well at least Sasori could show me how to seal him away. That was a start on being a puppeteer I guessed, and I could learn how to summon him next time so there was a little progress on the start of a new technique. I smiled a little, looking over Tamotsu one more time. He seriously was the most beautiful puppet I'd ever seen, his skin even looked human like, soft even. I reached out, running my fingers over the mark of Kuraigakure. His skin was soft…and warm?

"Sasori, why is it warm?" I questioned, Sasori blinked dumbly.

"Nani?" he inquired, Deidara looked dumbfounded as well.

"Didn't you feel it when you pulled the shirt up?" I pressed, Sasori shook his head. "Feel."

Sasori put his hand on the puppet, shaking his head. He looked over at me, confusion on his face. Something wasn't right, Sasori never looked confused about anything.

"What are you talking about Sada, it's ice cold." he said, I shook my head.

"No, it's warm." I retorted, Deidara squeezed my shoulder.

"Love, you're just tired. Let's go back to your room and take a nap hm." he suggested, I shook my head.

"No, I want to know what's going on with this puppet. It's not cold, it's warm and it feels like human skin."

"Sada, I don't know what you're talking about." Sasori said, sounding frustrated.

"Then when you found him what did you have to repair?" I pressed, Sasori sighed.

"Just his eyes, they were all slashed up and I had to do a great amount of work on them. Oddly enough though, I wasn't able to remove them for the repair. It was quite a hassle." he said, I threw my hands in the air.

"Isn't that strange to you though! There's something weird about him and we need to figure out what it is." I exclaimed, Deidara rubbed my shoulder again.

"Love calm down, Sasori no danna willl figure it out. Just don't worry about it hm." he said.

"Demo-"

"Just go." Sasori said simply, I blinked. "Get some rest, I'll look at him and see if I can find something. I'm telling you though Sada, this puppet is in perfect condition. I don't know what you think is going on, but it's probably just your imagination."

I furrowed my brow angrily and turned on my heel, heading out of the training room, Deidara right behind me. He didn't say anything as we walked down the hallway, he just held me hand and squeezed it comfortingly at random. We finally made it back to my room and laid next to each other in my bed, cuddling for a few minutes before Deidara was out like a light. As I laid there in his arms, I couldn't get my thoughts to move away from what had just happened. I didn't like being told I was crazy, I knew I felt warmth coming from Tamotsu and I was going to find out why. There were so many thoughts going through my head and I couldn't come to a single explanation as to why Sasori couldn't feel what I had felt. He wouldn't lie about something like that, there was no way. Maybe it had something to do with him not being a Kuraigakure shinobi.

I wrinkled my nose when I heard Deidara snore, giggling softly to myself. Maybe I just needed to rest for a little bit and think about this with a level head later. For now, I just wanted to enjoy my time with Deidara. I smiled softly and closed my eyes, cuddling as close to him as I could get and relaxed my body. The last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness was a soft whisper in my ear, a voice I didn't recognize.

"_Sleep well, Sada-hime."_

Princess?

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I know it's been forever since I posted a chapter and I apologize for that. I had a bunch of big changes happen in my life and just wasn't able to write for a while. I know you all have been waiting a long time for another chapter and I hope that this will suffice for now. Again, I apologize and I hope this was worth the wait. Thank you for being so patient and loyal.**

**Lots of love,**

**Eva**


End file.
